Life Is An Illusion
by Aishata
Summary: The deaths of the Ichiraku family drive Naruto down the road of genjutsu.
1. Prologue

_What is it that makes up the illusion of life?_

There had once been a time when Naruto wasn't the dead last.

Iruka had remembered that somewhere within the first semesters, Naruto actually had the top ten percent in Shinobi grades. There was no teacher that dared sabotage him, and there was no teacher that dared sabotage him now. After all, this was the prestigious Konoha academy, and the ANBU prevented all instances of fraud and other related issues, doubly important in a school teaching clan heirs.

It was the Hokage's wish that Naruto enter a school where he would be protected, and thus Konoha Academy was the optimum choice. Armed with the best teachers and a supportive environment under the watch of ANBU eyes, Naruto thrived. And then unfortunately, something broke within Naruto that he never got back.

He started to skip class and play hooky. Pranks started to become his usual hobbies.

Over time, his grades plummeted to the lowest in the class, as he forwent studying altogether. There was the occasional fling to surpass Sasuke Uchicha, but Naruto never went all the way through with it. Even if he did, his training regime would never compare the Uchicha's training regime, which was all the young heir obsessively lived for.

When Iruka wasn't looking, there was sometimes a sorrowful look that the boy would give as he glanced outside the window. It got more obvious the greater the amount of laughter there was in the vicinity, especially when a happy family walked by.

Perhaps it was that look that ignited Iruka's journey to stop seeing Naruto as the demon fox and as a person similar to him.

And it was the Ichiraku family's death that finally marked the start of the path when he saw Naruto as Naruto.

It had been raining, but the entire shop had been blackened inside out. Shinobi formed a barrier around the demolished shop as civilians stared around as spectators. Iruka had been there by pure coincidence, since he had been out shopping. However, he knew enough to know that it was Naruto's favorite restaurant, having caught him there a few times when he skipped class, and that the Ichiraku family had been found dead that morning.

At the time, he didn't walk away indifferently when he saw the burnt down shop. For some reason, his first thought was that of Naruto, who would most likely come by and see the shop.

So he waited underneath a pagoda until the blonde boy came.

Naruto didn't freak out like he had expected. Even as he approached his student, Naruto walked towards the shop with calm, knowing eyes, almost like he expected this to happen. Iruka, now very worried, trailed behind him.

"Let me pass," he told the ANBU blocking the entrance.

"No way, kid. Not going to happen."

"No, it's okay. He has clearance," Iruka interjected. "Clearance granted by me."

The ANBU stared at Iruka for a long while, before finally side-stepping. Naruto ran inside, with Iruka running after him. Rubble within the house gave off the smell of burning, ash blew around and made Iruka's eyes water. A certain room was entered, and there Naruto was searching for something, desperately kicking all the rubble away.

Beneath all the ash was a wooden drawing, and when Naruto brushed the dust off it, Iruka saw three crude stick figures carved on it, with a ramen bowl drawn in the middle.

_Naruto, Ayame, Teuchi; _three words were written on the top of the three figures' heads. It was an old drawing, a childish drawing, but a drawing that spoke of happier times.

Naruto hugged it to his chest before he suddenly burst into sobs and Iruka watched him as he cried. Random unintelligent babbling was gasped out of his mouth as he rocked himself back and forth on the floor.

He ran out of the room, again searching for something else. He rushed from room to room in a savage panic.

When Naruto reached the kitchen and halted suddenly, Iruka knew that Naruto found what he was looking for.

Indeed, the words "DEMON" had been sprayed in red across the blackened wall.

And Naruto stood there, staring at the five letter word. Iruka understood what had happened.

They couldn't get at Naruto, who had been under the protection of the Hokage. However, they could get two civilians that were beneath the attention of the ANBU. That was about when Iruka stopped seeing the demon haters as fellow advocators, and started seeing them as disgusting bigots.

Naruto's silence was an answer all by itself. Pieces of the puzzle clicked together. Was that why Naruto's relationship with the Ichiraku family never went beyond customer and supplier? And then there was the civilian populace being resistant towards Naruto becoming a ninja…

"Should I have been born?"

Iruka sat next to him; Naruto was so small that he was the same height as him even sitting down.

"I can't answer that question. But life is something none of us chose anyway."

Naruto gripped the wooden carving even harder.

"Then what is the purpose of it?"

"There is no purpose, only what we make of it."

What happened next wasn't an explosion of rage, or a cry to the heavens for revenge. There was no explosion of youki or chakra, and there was no awakening of newfound power.

Naruto just cried because he was a helpless child who didn't know what to do, the same cry that Iruka had gave when he was lonely and desperately begging for help. It was the same cry that made Iruka reach out and hug the blonde boy.

"Life will go on no matter who dies," Iruka whispered. "The best revenge is living well."

If only Naruto didn't have to learn that lesson at such a young age.

A/N: Desperately trying to ease up writer's block, so I wrote this. Different premise and different focus than my other story, but some of the events are the same though done by different motivations. Also, there will be a focus on genjutsu on this one. Just wait and see how I'll pull it off…for better…or worse.


	2. Chapter 1

Naruto was in an unbelievably bad mood.

Half a year of training and he had yet to master even one measly genjutsu that Ayame had left for him. No matter how much he tried, even the simplest one on the scroll was a challenge for him to use.

Eventually, after a week of feeling snappish and incredibly irritated at everything, he hit Sakura back when Sakura gave him the usual bop on the forehead. Sakura was rightfully stunned, as well as several of his other classmates, but Naruto had stomped off before anything else was done.

He decided to take out his frustration on one of the logs on the training ground. It was peppered with kunai, yet, half of his throws missed. It seemed as if everything he did was sub-par, and despite his best efforts, he was only average in the academy.

"Naruto."

"What? Are you going to scold me for hitting her?"

"It wasn't right. However, she did attack you first, so I'll let it pass."

"Damn straight."

Iruka shook his head in response. After their deaths, Naruto's pranks started to become less harmless and far more vindictive. The general goofy exterior manifested itself occasionally, but there were long bouts of sudden bad moods that stretched out for weeks. During those periods, Naruto threw himself into training in a manner surpassed only by Uchicha Sasuke.

At least it wasn't mindless depression. Iruka was doing all that he could besides his job as a Shinobi instructor. Also, Naruto's grades were improving rather rapidly; whereas Naruto saw being average as a testament to his lack of talent, Iruka saw it as a prodigious leap.

Often, ninja who got to the bottom of the barrel stayed at the bottom of the barrel; chakra use was a muscle that could only be trained over a long time. Also, the fact that Naruto could even do the karawimi and the henge with his reserves was a wonder by itself.

"Naruto, you're not suited for genjutsu." It was a conversation that Iruka had gone over with Naruto countless times.

"I don't care. Ayame and Teuchi left it for me."

Iruka pursed his lips. "You don't have the chakra control for it."

"Then I'll train until I do."

Iruka scratched his nose and sighed. Well, at least Naruto still retained his stubbornness; Naruto had gone an entire week without sleep just to master tree-walking. The next step would obviously be water-walking, but that level was not going to help Naruto, which was why he was going to introduce a new kind of exercise to Naruto.

"Naruto, I have a chakra control exercise that is naturally suited towards those with a lot of chakra. Want to hear me out?"

Naruto stopped his ravaging of the wooden block.

"What is it?"

"It's a meditative exercise meant to probe outwards with chakra."

Naruto paused. "Frankly, that sounds completely useless."

Iruka found himself taking a big breath. He would not lose his temper… He would not lose his temper…

"And perverted. You're a pervert."

That was it. Iruka's iconic big head no jutsu roared out.

"YOU BAKA! I SPENT MONTHS TO SECURE THIS INFORMATION!"

Naruto laughed in response.

"I was just joking. Jeez, Iruka-sensei."

The brown-haired chunin would have been angrier, but he realized that it was just one of those psychological pranks that Naruto started to pull out as of late. Also, Naruto's dark mood seemed to have ebbed as well.

"Oh Naruto…" he finally sighed. "Well, I can teach you the basics of the exercise today, and then we'll go home, okay?"

"And ramen?"

"Sure."

Naruto's next grin was both wistful and melancholy at the same time.

…

Later that day, after an endured beating from Sakura, Naruto found himself interjecting into one of Hinata's lack of partners. Often, teachers assigned groups; however, Cobate-sensei wanted everyone to choose their own groups today.

For some reason, Hinata found her alone again, which was a contrast to Sasuke Uchicha who was currently in the middle of a free-for-all duke out between all the kunoichi in the class. Eventually and hilariously, Sasuke would completely lose it and randomly attack any girl within a five hundred meter radius.

Truly, Sasuke would make a wonderful wife-beater.

Ignoring the collateral damage in the middle of the classroom as Cobate-sensei hid in the corner and cried while the ANBU (vainly) attempted to prevent further degeneration in what appeared to be a bar brawl, Naruto walked towards the blue-haired girl-

"…you wanna be partners?"

-who then promptly fainted on the ground leaving Naruto completely hanging.

Naruto stared at the unconscious girl, and then back at the mob of rabid fan girls before he got hit in the face by an eraser.

"Great," he sighed as the eraser dropped onto the floor. "Just great."

Naruto then got speared in the gut by a wooden chair that was for some reason flying across the classroom.

"Wonderful," he gasped.

A billboard came out of nowhere and smacked him in the face, breaking his nose.

"Fug."

Naruto grabbed the unconscious girl and ran outside. He did not want to be within that shit, and got out just before Iruka's scream (WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?) shook the academy walls. He couldn't exactly blame Cobate-sensei since he was new, but still, the guy should have known better.

Oh well.

On the bright side, the girl was waking up again. Naruto felt his heart go out for her; it must really suck to have a medical condition like that. In the meantime, he would figure out what he did wrong so he wouldn't trigger any more of her fainting spells again.

Hinata's eyes fluttered open as she woke to a blonde-haired boy staring directly at her.

"So uh…" he began. "You wanna be training partners?"

It wasn't a dream! It wasn't a dream! Somehow, Hinata managed not to faint.

"Does this mean you don't want to?" Naruto asked in response to Hinata's flustered silence.

"Nonononono!" she burst out. Blushing red and completely embarrassed, Hinata continued.  
A-Ano…I w-w-would l-l-like t-to…"

"Really?" Naruto exclaimed. Hinata nodded vigorously. "Great! Let's go for lunch!"

Hinata fainted again.

….

A/N: So many reviews for this story. O.O What the hell, I spent hours of effort on my other story, and on this one, I slapped the last chapter in thirty minutes and I got seven for a measly 1000 words, a much higher ratio than what I've ever gotten before.

Seriously, either reviewers are the most unpredictable people on Earth, or I somehow hit the jackpot unknowingly. Sigh…I wish I didn't give a shit about reviews. I wish I was those writers that were experienced in not giving a shit.

Right now, I'm adopting a system of updating thousand word chapters once every two to four days so that it's easy for me to write in advance and not fuck the storyline up too bad. I'll still be updating 3k words weekly or biweekly or so, just in smaller chunks and faster intervals.

Anyway, thanks to kingdom219, moonlight phoenix, silently watches, kanrei and solvdrage for reviewing. Thanks to the two guests! I'm still a budding writer, but I'm learning…hopefully…

As of 7/12, chapter 2 and 4 are done now. I'll be posting them in a few days or so, depending on the response I get. :D Don't be mean to me…


	3. Chapter 2

The new chakra exercise was not useless.

Naruto didn't know where Iruka found this information from, but it was simply amazing. At first, Naruto found it completely tedious and boring, with the scroll detailing the exercise as a way to find oneself, which sounded really gay.

It had taken Naruto a month to even get a simmer of breakthrough on it, as he trained himself to sit completely still and simply _feel _the chakra moving throughout his body.

Then he moved to the next step where he pushed chakra out of the body. It turned out, every person's chakra had a unique identity, and that everyone was naturally attuned to sensing it. The technique itself was a training simulation of the process; however, it required a lot of chakra to be actively pushed out for it to be even remotely useful.

This was because chakra was intangible and almost impossible to grasp, and therefore a lot of it was needed in order to make it "solid" for analysis.

That was no problem to him.

In the end, he started to practice on controlling a wisp of chakra out of the body. He couldn't control the chakra within his body though; that was like controlling the sea. Theoretically however, he could learn to isolate chakra out of his body and control jutsu from there. Of course, chakra was far more volatile outside of the body than inside of the body, and there had been only one recorded ninja in history who casted jutsu in this way.

However, even if the process itself was useless, Naruto was still learning to control his chakra, albeit in a really unconventional way.

"So is this exercise really well-known or something?" Naruto had asked Iruka over the breakfast table.

"It used to be, back then in a clan where everyone had supposedly high levels of chakra. If you ever know about chakra theory, the first step to controlling chakra is to understand it. The exercise you're using takes that one step higher, and assumes that all chakra has an identity."

"Does all chakra have an identity?"

"Yes, although most of us figure it out subconsciously instead of actively. I don't know my chakra identity, but I know it when I feel it, reportedly." Iruka sighed. "And don't talk while you're eating."

…..

The problem with living with your teacher is that he knows everything you do.

"Naruto," Iruka growled. "Where is your homework?"

"Dog ate it."

"We are the only tenants of an entire building. The only way a dog could have eaten it is if you went outside and fed it to one."

"So that's why Akamaru had diarrhea this morning!" Kiba burst out as both Shikimaru and Ino rolled their eyes and muttered a "shut up Kiba".

Next to him, the Hyuuga heiress giggled, both at Naruto and Kiba's antics. Naruto didn't sit all that close to her, since no matter how dense the boy was; even he knew a pattern when he saw one.

When school would eventually end and Iruka would give him another lecture about not screwing around, Naruto would find himself cooking ramen for lunch. Hinata would sometimes join in, and Naruto found that she was actually really knowledgeable about whipping up a dish. Alongside Iruka's ability to pick the best cooking ingredients, Naruto's dishes didn't taste half bad.

Hinata somehow grew onto him, if only because she reminded him a lot of the really bad times. Perhaps it was for this reason that Naruto just couldn't leave her alone. From what he gathered, Hinata was exceedingly isolated because of her clan and her father was so neglectful of her that he probably didn't even know of the abuse the elders were heaping on her when he wasn't around.

Occasionally, Hinata slept over in the Ichiraku shop and only went back when her father presence reasserted itself. She stayed over uncommonly; initially, he didn't feel comfortable with the girl's inhabitance in the sacred relic that he had inherited. Repulsion at beating out such a lonely girl eventually won out though, and despite his best efforts to hide it, Naruto was internally a very kind individual.

Naruto had fun casting genjutsu on unsuspecting ninjas. The scroll that Ayame had left for him was a list of illusions supposedly passed down from mother to child for a long time. Long ago, the Ichiraku family was mainly chakra-users, but they turned to making ramen for some reason.

With the chakra control exercise, Naruto was finally able to create a bunshin and master the perception altering genjutsu, although he had to be completely still and relaxed to do it. His genjutsu might be useless in a real-life battle, but he was still making progress anyway, even if he was two less bunshin from passing.

Like now, the girl who had gossiped about Hinata behind Hinata' back suddenly tripped and hit the ground face first. Naruto grinned; attacking the vestibular sense was one of the many creative ways to use the genjutsu.

He whistled innocently as Iruka's stern gaze fell onto him.

"Naruto, come here and let's have a talk."

…..

"Oh come on, she deserved it! She was spreading rumors about Hinata!"

"I wasn't actually going to talk about that, but now that I know you did that, we are going to talk about that later."

Naruto groaned, yet Iruka couldn't find the heart to even feel humored about the response. It was time to talk with Naruto about a subject he had been avoiding for years.

If it was Iruka's choice, he wouldn't even be telling Naruto about this. However, when Naruto would eventually find out, the fallout would be even worse in the long run. It would be best to put Naruto's goal of revenge to ease now, then it would later.

"Naruto, the Hokage has found the killers."

Naruto immediately stilled, and a serious demeanor took hold. This was a question he had held for years, an answer that he had searched for in half his life.

"Who were they?" was the question.

There was a long silence. And then finally, Iruka spoke reluctantly.

"You'll find out at the private execution."

...

A/N: As promised, the next chapter. I wanted to finally flesh out the deaths of the Ichiraku family and explore their effects on this universe and to give Naruto a much less shallow motivation to become strong besides what is in canon.

I really appreciate the support thus far, especially those of you that came back and read it. I can't express how grateful I am. Thanks to moonlight phoenix, Solvdrage, Kanrei and Bombraider. I love you guys. :)

As of 7/14, I'm done with chapter 3 and 4, now working on chapter 5.

Feedback makes me happy, PM or reviews. So please with a cherry on top, leave a review or PM over what I did wrong or right? o.o


	4. Chapter 3

_The worst pain is pain that you blame yourself for._

….

Naruto's sleep was plagued with nightmares. He tossed and turned with fitful breathing, unable to distinguish between reality and dream. He would cry out periodically and involuntarily, no doubt with guilt underlying his tone.

Iruka had heard all of it as he sat adjacent to a desk with a cup of coffee, unable to concentrate on grading. To say he was concerned with Naruto's search for the long awaited question was an understatement; he dreaded what Naruto would become once he confirmed the answer.

Yes, the key word was confirmed, not find, for Naruto himself already knew the motives behind their murders no matter how many times he scrubbed at the wall. The execution would most likely shatter his delusions, and confirm the one answer Naruto knew but feared the most.

Was it the right choice to allow Naruto to the execution? The Sandaime had argued that by keeping it a secret from him, Naruto would lose all trust of the people around him when he would eventually find out. Considering Naruto's relentless search for the truth, him chancing upon the event soon afterwards was a distant but possible outcome.

However, what if Naruto actually never wanted to find out? What if he wanted to go on willfully ignoring the word demon for the rest of his life?

Iruka was afraid of the Naruto that would come back after the execution.

…

The underground base where the killers were being executed was stifling. Unrecognizable individuals were strapped to chairs in the middle of a circular basin, while a curved plane of glass separated them from the spectators.

Normally, when it came to private executions, only relatives either by blood or paperwork were allowed to the funerals. Thus, Naruto would not have access to the proceedings, as he was not otherwise related to them.

However, the Ichiraku family had signed over all their holdings to him, and thus established him as the closest thing to married without outright ceremony. Like it or not, Naruto had a right to be here.

Precautions were taken to rob all of the prisoners of eyesight and voice. The last thing Hiruzen wanted was an explosion in the form of a young Jinchuriki. He kept a firm eye on him though.

"Kaizaru Hoshida, 23 years old, genin, convicted murderer of Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku," he spoke into the microphone.

The words echoed around the chamber before Hiruzen continued.

"Death by electrocution."

An ANBU figure stood up behind the man, and Hiruzen moved his eyes further down the list.

"Fuse Yukio, 31 years old, civilian merchant, convicted murderer of Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku." The squeak of the microphone was conveyed to the audience in static.

"Death by electrocution."

The list went on and on, most of them genin rank and below. It had taken an embarrassingly long time to obtain the names, partly because of the abundance of unwilling witnesses.

The shopkeepers of Konoha outright refused to divulge information. Families refused to cooperate and there was nothing the Sandaime could do about it as he held no power over the civilians.

That was the case until he had gotten permission from the daimyo for investigation, and the rest fell down like a bag of bricks.

Two seats away was Naruto Uzumaki, who gripped the armrests of his chair more and more tightly as he watched the lives of the men being snuffed out. He had been completely silent throughout, until the last man was executed.

"There are so many," Naruto whispered to no one in particular.

The Sandaime laid his hand on his shoulder and gave Naruto a squeeze. Everything was fine until one of the many families of the men bellowed out in anger.

"You killed them demon!"

"Those bastards gave their home to a monster!"

Combined killing intent leaked out and shut the civilians up, but the damage had already been done. Naruto had stiffened even as he was escorted out by the ANBU, and his movements had become even more lackluster.

Unfortunately, it was Jinne Ichiraku in all her bitterness that had landed the final blow.

Jinne Ichiraku was an estranged relative of the Ichiraku family, and from what the Sandaime could gather, the last Ichiraku member. She had been severely alienated from her brother and had moved away from Konoha, and the relationship was so ugly that she had been cut entirely away from the will. It was thus with no small amount of anger that she cried out.

"You monster, you caused their deaths!"

Hiruzen remembered her interaction with Naruto during the funeral seven months ago and silently lost his temper over how she dared repeat the occurrence.

"ANBU, take her away into questioning."

It was at this point Naruto turned around and screamed.

"_You_ _will not!" _

Hiruzen paused. Jinne struggled against her captors.

"Naruto…"

The whiskered Jinchuriki's eyes flared.

"Don't…she's the only thing left of the Ichiraku family."

It took a long time, but the Sandaime finally rubbed his nose in defeat.

"We won't go more than interrogation, I promise."

For a while, Naruto stood and glared at him before was led away, and Hiruzen waited until he was gone before he turned to the families of the executed with no small amount of killing intent.

"You people are lucky that I do not dispose of all of you for treason."

….

Naruto had a long talk with the dog masked ANBU. The man had arrived just as it started to rain, claiming that he knew his father, and that no matter what all of Konoha said, he wasn't a monster.

If only Naruto could believe him.

He felt so empty. His goal of revenge for Teuchi and Ayame was fulfilled, yet the only thing left was sickness that propelled him to vomit on the ground at least two times. The dog-faced ANBU stayed behind and patted the bile out, and then gave him a hot drink.

He didn't touch it.

"Is it supposed to feel this way? Revenge?"

"Revenge will get you nowhere; it will only lead to a cycle of bloodshed."

It was probably the wrong thing to say, because Naruto vomited again.

"Then why do people seek it?"

"Because they think it will make them feel good. Because they think it will bring them satisfaction."

"Does it?"

"Sometimes. But other times, all it brings is emptiness and darkness."

"Sounds accurate," was the bitter reply.

There was no desire for conversation, and the two sat with their backs to the concrete wall and watched the water flow. Konoha was a beautiful, ambient place; rich with wildlife and vegetation with blue skies being ubiquitous during the summer. Unfortunately, it was a place maintained by ninja principles, and beneath it was an ugly foundation that plagued the entire nation.

Naruto, who knew only too well, finally spoke.

"Did I cause in anyway the Ichiraku family's death indirectly or directly?"

"…You did."

"I see."

The rain cascaded all around him. Water ran into his eyes and down his face on the way home.

Distantly, he wondered if he was worthy to be within the presence of the people he called friends.

…

_Far away, Mizuki of Konohagakure smiled as an exchange of papers began, and an ugly plot was put into motion._

_He didn't know it at the time, but that exchange was the beginning of a new era. He didn't know that it would do more than an increase of hostilities between two countries. _

_No, he didn't know how it would change the nature of the fifth great Shinobi war. _

…_..._

A/N: Great amount of foreshadowing here. Thanks to all of you who reviewed last chapter; Silently Watching, Bomb Raider, Solvdrage and the Guest! It's people like you that I write for.

Anyway, sorry I'm late with this chapter; it was basically an exploration of "under the outside". We see in canon that Naruto is a very sad individual, especially after he beat Gaara, and this is only amplified with –their- deaths in this story.

And no, Naruto still doesn't know of what he is holding.

Not very pleased with this chapter, especially in the beginning, but I placed the most inspiration in the end… So uh…tell me what you think?


	5. Chapter 4

"_Hinata…take this pendant."_

"_What is it, Kaa-san?"_

"_It's a good luck charm. It's something that you can put your feelings into, it's a magic container."_

Hinata's mother smiled jokingly and Hinata found herself sadly tittering along.

"_Kaa-san, Tou-san told me there is no such thing as magic."_

"_Your father doesn't know what he's talking about."_

Her mother weakly pinched her nose and made Hinata giggle, but her forced laughs were strained as her tears welled up in her eyes.

"_Kaa-san, please don't leave me."_

Her mother forced out a smile.

"_Even if I go Hinata, you won't be alone. You have Neji, Hiashi and Hanabi to keep you company."_

"_But you can't go!"_

"_I won't Hinata. I won't."_

Hinata's mother let out a shuddering sigh. Her body, shortly after giving birth to Hanabi, was gradually giving out and there was nothing the medic-nins could do about it. They had deduced that it was chakra poisoning resulting from the presence of another person's chakra system inside of her, as well as the lack of antibodies her vessel was producing.

Thus, a fever was slowly killing her, even if she held out longer than what the doctors predicted. It was certainly regretful though, everyone could see how much she loved Hinata, and how much Hinata loved her.

"_Hinata, can you sing me that song again? That song about the girl with eyes of stone?"_

"_That song? I don't like that song."_

"_It is a sad song, but it is important…to you and me."_

Hinata's mother smiled at her and weakly ruffled her hair, for a brief moment, Hinata almost cried. Yet, she stayed strong because if she sang it well, her mother might live.

So Hinata, who so disliked the song, sang.

"Eyes of stone…

Heart of cold…

A girl alone, a presence unknown_."_

"In winter she slept…

In summer she kept_…_

_A life without a goal."_

"One day, a being…

Laughed, gave her meaning…

At last she smiled,

Her very first friend, beguiled."

"But her eyes were cursed…

Which spoke of darkness and hurt…

The mortal she was with had crumbled like dirt…"

"There was no purpose in the existence she led…

In the places she bed…

Or the way she fed."

"So the sun extinguished and the moon then shone…

She wept to sleep and never rose…

A story passed, from child to child…

A girl who died alone."

…

_No matter who you are, there will always be a person who wishes happiness for you. You might not have found that person yet, but the world is big, so don't lose hope…Hinata…_

…

Hinata gasped and woke up in the middle of the training room on the tatami mat. Last night's training session had been brutal to the point where she had coughed up blood a few times. It was possibly punishment for keeping away from the house during the afternoon when her father wasn't around.

She was too afraid to tell her father what was going on though…and her father was gone for a week.

"Naruto…" she whispered haltingly.

She had to get to school; she had to see Naruto again…

Her body was wrapped in pain.

….

To say that Naruto was worried was an understatement.

It was bad enough after the execution, but one day Hinata hadn't come to school for a day. Then she didn't come the day afterwards, and the days stretched into a whole month.

Iruka did some research and found that Hyuuga Hiashi had been gone for a month-long trip, indirectly arousing some suspicions about what was going on. The most frustrating thing was that they couldn't do anything without evidence, and Naruto had been spiraling downwards because of it.

Nightmares that had been alleviated over the years burst out in full fervor. Naruto regressed into sleeping in the same bed as Iruka, and spent the days brooding in worry and obsessively training.

In the first week of Hinata's absence, both he and Naruto had attempted to break in the household when direct confrontations didn't work. Unfortunately, the Hyuuga ANBU caught them before they could even get in near the gate, and the Hokage had a personal conversation with him and reluctantly threatened his job as a teacher if he didn't stop.

Clans had the right to execute their own people if they so desired, assuming both the clan head and 2/3rds of the clan were angry. While Iruka doubted that Hiashi would kill his own daughter, he didn't doubt that the girl would be subject to punishment.

And of course, any "evidence" would be dismissed as training accidents. Iruka had learned that the hard way when he had brought that up with Hiashi, who refused to listen to anything more than the first five syllables. As much as he hated to admit it, the Hyuuga elders covered up their tracks in ingenious ways that kept Hiashi in the dark, and his arrogant, dismissive attitude didn't help matters either.

He found Naruto outside, doing the meditative exercise. Wisps of blue chakra whirled around him; it was amazing how much chakra the boy possessed even without the Kyuubi. To make chakra visible with a pure exercise alone was incredible, and to even control such a gigantic reservoir…

"Naruto, let's go eat."

"Okay."

His grins were gone, replaced with frowns of anxiety. It was weird not having Hinata help out with the cooking, and her absence seemed to scream out every second.

Naruto hated not being able to do anything.

…..

It was too easy. It really was.

For the heir of the clan, Hinata was certainly hated.

She was hated by the main branch for being shy and weak, and she was hated by the branch families because of how she indirectly caused the death of her father's brother a while back. Humans were irrational who blamed people for things not their fault, but it worked to Mizuki's advantage nevertheless.

With Hinata being completely unguarded, and her body being inflicted with several internal injuries, she was ridiculously easy to capture. Heck, she didn't even resist, and instead moaned a soft "Naruto…"

Mizuki chuckled; he wondered why Hinata hadn't had a seal branded onto her, yet Hiashi must have somewhat cared for his daughter because he had cut down all attempts to do so. Despite this, Hiashi was incredibly neglectful and cold towards his daughter, and the clan's attitude didn't help matters.

Heck, she wasn't even guarded! It was like they wanted to her to die!

Deep inside, Mizuki felt a deep revulsion for the Hyuuga clan, but he reassured himself that Hinata would finally be recognized for her true worth.

He rushed forward to meet the squad from Kumogakure.

…..

"_A girl who died alone."_

…_._

A/N: Wow, so much support for last chapter. Lol, I was so unhappy with the last one that I wanted to scrap it, but I also wanted the executions to be done with.

I don't like writing Hiashi as a bad person. He establishes himself in canon as someone who is an asshole, but not evil. The clan on the other hand…

Thanks to queenboogie16, Kanrei, Silently Watches, Solvdrage and Bombraider! You guys keep me going!

Let me know what you think about this chapter? Plot too rushed? I don't know, I foreshadowed this several times, but maybe I really jumped the shark…I can hear the criticism coming. :(

How did Mizuki sneak in when Naruto and Iruka couldn't? The answer is really very simple, but for those of you who can't understand why, PM me or leave a review about it. I'll post an explanation on my profile page.

Note: Naruto and Hinata are halfway through 10 and 11 years old at this point. Stay tuned to see what will happen…please?

EDIT: 7/20- fanfic refused to upload my page for everyone to see. Sorry for the long delay, here it is reloaded.

Sigh…until fanfic has better word processors, I'm going to have to stick with the gay full stops as a way to mark scene changes.


	6. Chapter 5

The plan.

Mizuki smirked; his plot was finally coming into fruition. Orochimaru would not only be very pleased with him, but he would walk away with a large amount of wealth as well. This was something he planned for years and it was paying off.

Was Mizuki stupid enough to believe that Naruto was a demon? Of course not, although the civilians hated the boy, the majority of ninja knew better, him included. Yet, the revelation itself would prove to be a powerful tool for psychological warfare.

Not that he needed it anyway with the Kumo squad watching his back.

Indeed, the ultimate prize was the scroll of sealing, where the kinjutsu it contained was legendary. Only Naruto Uzumaki could get past the seals on the Hokage's office, if only because he was of Uzumaki blood.

No, Naruto was the core of his plans and he had the perfect way to lure him in.

…..

_For every ninja, no matter how dead their hearts have someone that they cannot bear to lose._

…_.._

The Branch clan was in secret uproar and panic. Hinata Hyuuga was gone, and no one knew how. What would they say to Hyuuga Hiashi, who would no doubt come back and demand an explanation? And then he would find out what they were doing to her…

Yet, the main family rubbed their hands together and celebrated quietly.

Their plot to kill off Hinata slowly by "natural causes" in favor of pushing up Hanabi as future clan heir had been cleared for a far better and viable alternative. Unlike Hinata, Hanabi had grown up without being corrupted by that woman's teachings, and was far more receptive to their propaganda. In other words, Hanabi would have been a perfect puppet clan head.

Unfortunately, Hinata had stopped coming home, completely derailing their plans, and they couldn't do anything about it until now due to her affiliation with the Konoha Jinchuriki.

But Hinata Hyuuga was kidnapped, contrary to all expectations.

It turns out; the kidnapping that was enacted 5 years ago was being enacted again. The way the perpetrators broke in was done in the exact same method as did the squad of Kumogakure from half a decade ago.

Half a decade ago, that had also been a plot to get rid of Hiashi's brother, the figurehead of the branch family. Of course, instead of assassinating Hizashi, the squad from Komogakure went back on their promise and instead attempted to kidnap Hyuuga Hinata, but had resulted in Hizashi's death regardless.

And this time, Kumogakure's desire for the Byakugan worked to their advantage.

Mayo Hyuuga laughed, things were going far better than expected. With Hiashi losing not only his brother, wife but also daughter, he would be far too destabilized to retain his status as clan heir.

And then he would take over, and instill upon the branch family the authority that they deserved.

…

This was Naruto's first attempt to pass the graduation test. Most likely he would fail, but he didn't care anyway since Hinata wasn't here.

If Hinata wasn't on his team, it was pointless.

_You lose everyone precious to you, _a voice whispered into his ear.

He still had Iruka-sensei.

_Even Iruka-sensei will one day die because of you._

Naruto gritted his teeth as his fists clenched. Sometimes, he thought he heard a voice whisper into his head and a dark presence bubble up beneath his skin. Maybe the villagers were right; he was a monster deep inside, waiting to be unleashed upon the world.

_That's right, you are a monster. But if you let me go free, I will destroy the Hyuuga clan and take back your precious friend. And then no one will dare hurt you or your friends…_

The voice started to fade away.

_When the time comes Naruto Uzumaki, you know what to do…_

The bubbling sensation stopped, leaving Naruto an empty husk. He blinked away the tears of frustration as hot breaths burst from his lungs.

In the end, he was every bit as helpless as the boy from back then. Iruka tapped his shoulder with a frown.

"Do you want to opt out Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head.

"I might as well give it a try," he answered cynically.

"Subject #21, Naruto Uzumaki," the speaker ringed out.

"Good luck, Naruto," whispered Iruka.

"Yeah," Naruto answered dully.

The sliding door that separated the waiting room from the test room opened and the moment Naruto stepped inside, the sound-proof door closed behind him. That was his first cue that something was wrong. The next cue was the feel of kunai pressing against his neck.

"Welcome, Naruto Uzumaki," Mizuki said, his hands propping up his face in bored, haughty way. "You can take off your Konoha headbands now, my dear squad. But only briefly, we have to keep up appearances for the Konoha ANBU."

Upon the sight of the Kumogakure symbol, Naruto growled.

"This is-"

"Yes, it is. Hyuuga Hinata-"

"What have you done with her?" roared Naruto.

Mizuki chuckled.

"Not so hasty, Naruto-kun. Any wrong move you make and Hinata will die when the seals around her are activated. You don't want to make us mad."

Naruto forced his emotions down and sat. Youki started to bubble up within his body.

"First of all, why even come to me?"

"Ah…Naruto-kun, I just need you to do something for me."

"Wait, how do I know you really have Hinata with you? How do I know you haven't killed her yet?"

Mizuki signaled and one of the members threw down an assortment of pictures. All of them showed Hinata being bound and gagged on to a chair with foliage framing the end of the pictures. Mizuki then handed Naruto a microphone.

"For your use, Naruto."

And Mizuki sat back and smiled at the sight. Ah…disguising themselves as proctors was in genius indeed. Not just that, but the great amount of proctors protecting the children allowed the ANBU to lower their guard during the brief moment necessary to convey their message to Naruto.

To the outside observer, it simply looked like Naruto was being tested on deciphering photographs.

Unfortunately, the truth was much harsher.

…

A/N: Thanks to Solvdage and Bombraider for their support, as well as the PMs sent to me by a number of members!

Confirmed several theories of yours, Solvdage. Be happy, but I added my own about the Kumo kidnapping. I don't know, I'm probably going off the walls with the amount of plots I'm going to instill within the story line.

Sooner or later, all the plots will mesh into a great big cluster-fuck in the near future. And Naruto would probably in the middle of that, as he would.

Wish me luck, support and uh…R&R?


	7. Chapter 6

"…_What we call reality, a myriad of sensory detail bestowed upon us by the mind that we are gifted with is as fragile and easy to break as any other delusion. We call this reality life, as if it is a fundamental basis in all that we have, yet even this security splinters with the slightest blow, as everything that we have is all fake. For if the base itself is flimsy, what then can we call the structure itself?"_

A girl he was willing, yet unwilling to sacrifice for his country's sake.

"…_Pushing her away from you, yet you got her involved regardless," _a voice laughed in his head.

He felt so cold.

The screams of civilians outside of the Hokage's tower echoed outside, the stampedes of evacuation sent panic rippling through the crowds. They were creating a distraction; they were perpetuating chaos all for him. Meanwhile, the forbidden scroll lay in his hands, the object that was the key to everything.

For some reason, only Naruto Uzumaki could enter the tower. A boy who should by all means know no better, but yet was an individual instrumental to so many plots.

If he stood one step out of line, Hinata Hyuuga would be killed, and that was that. Naruto knew that one girl was not worth the security of an entire nation. And yet desperately, he still wanted to save her, he still wanted to atone.

For he had failed to save the two people that mattered most to him, and he had caused the execution and death of many more.

Could he outsmart Mizuki? The demeanor that he had cultivated, the visage of an immature and brash youngster that he defended even after Ayame and Teuchi's death was an integral part of who he was. In truth, it had died long ago, but to this end, it was still something he wished he had.

Did Mizuki think that he was dealing with that sort of protégé; an innocent, scared youngster willing to forsake all logic and conviction for a single girl?

Yet, what difference did it make? He had no plan. Either way, Mizuki still won. If Naruto backed out on the conditions, Hinata would die. If Naruto went along with it, Hinata would still live, yet would be placed in the hands of Kumogakure who would deny any allegations of them kidnapping her.

Either way, Hinata would have been dead and forsaken, left to the hands of the enemy to die alone. He knew from the very beginning that Mizuki had been lying to him the entire time.

Mizuki thought he was dealing with an ignorant, brash ten year old. But as Naruto laid his eyes on the first page of the scroll, a slow smile graced his lips.

Very well, let him think that. Let him believe that he was dealing with a stupid, rash boy.

Either way, whether or not he failed or succeeded, Mizuki's existence would be ended as well.

And as such, he took the forbidden scroll and left.

{[+]}

In the presence of the common people, even the Hokage was obliged to confront them instead of leaving it to shadowy guards. The throes of anarchy and violence filled the air as they moved to confront them. Yet, in a village as extensive as Konoha, that was not an easy thing.

They casted jutsu, ran and hid, some of them casting wide-spread genjutsu to perpetuate more chaos and violence on the street. Houses were burned down, and civilians were ruthlessly killed. Others blended in among the stampedes, causing even more chaos.

This was done all for him, the boy so integral to their success.

Konogakure's tower was hailed as one of the most guarded buildings in the entire world, and was famous for being the location where even the Kyuubi itself did not dare go near. However, its strength was its downfall, the seals that prevented everyone but a select few from entering it also left few to guard it.

They, after all, would never expect a young boy named Naruto to infiltrate it.

The Kumo squad leader questioned hinging the deliverance of such an important artifact on a young boy, yet the temptation of gathering some of Konoha's grievous secrets was too great. If it worked as Mizuki had said, then they would all the more be richer.

He could hardly wait.

The song of battle derailed his thoughts however, as one of his men suddenly died from a flurry of kunai through the cracks of the shadows. Finally they were here, the elite force of the ANBU, individuals that his squad had no chance against.

It was time to make his leave.

Within all the chaos, the ANBU hardly noticed him vacating the area. He proceeded through a route that he thought would lead him to safety.

He was wrong.

He died as a lightning encased hand speared him through the chest.

{[+]}

The fools from Kumogakure were all dead.

Mizuki snorted, that commanding offer hadn't even been acting in accordance with the higher command. All Mizuki had done was offer him a chance for glory, and he had taken it without informing the village for fear of other officials stealing this mission away from him.

Kumogakure would thus never know of his village's involvement, even though he had cost them a general and a fair bit of money granted to him by said general.

He was rich, and he was safe.

Yet, the prize was yet to be here.

"Let us wait," he told the squad from his village.

"Hai, Mizuki-sama," they answered, melting back into the depths of the forest.

Did Naruto really think that they were waiting for him at the assigned location?

Too bad.

They were waiting to ambush him the moment he got out of the tower.

After all, this was a no mercy game.

{[+]}

A/N: Things will be clarified further, but feel free to ask away!

Thanks so much for the support last chapter, holy crap. Thanks to queenboogie16, serialkiller, BombRaider, Imaginarivalued, Solvdrage and The Forgotton Bijuu for the reviews.

The Hokage scene was a reenactment of canon, because I have no idea how to write that realistically. Seriously, if I was completely realistic, Naruto would never have gotten his hands on the scroll, and ANBU would have caught him…

But if canon does it…then well…-_-

Your thoughts? Uh…R&R?

(This is part one out of two of a chapter I'm working on, incidentally. Hopefully, I'll post the next part soon.)


	8. Chapter 7

"_The girl with eyes of stone, huh?"_ Jinne Ichiraku muttered. _"How quaint."_

{{+]}

He had fought at first.

A squad of ninja had come from above, and Naruto had not detected them at all.

He had failed.

Dragged along by the team that captured him, reality chipped in and enforced how an academy student had no chance against ninja of Mizuki's caliber. He had planned to leave with a henge'd forbidden scroll; he had even read some of the contents within it so as to make the genjutsu more realistic. The bluff he was going for, the message he left for the Hokage, everything was done to ensure the survival of her.

Unfortunately, a ten year old boy could never out fox a general with years of experience.

Naruto's only reprieve was that they had not gotten the forbidden scroll, and he was sure that they would kill him for that.

If only there was some way to save Hinata…

No, it was useless. He lost everyone dear to him anyway.

He grunted and struggled against the rope that secured every part of his body to no avail. The bindings that restrained him bit into his skin, preventing him from even forming hand seals let alone moving. Not to mention the squad that surrounded him, and even he was wondering why they hadn't killed him yet.

Across him was Hinata, who stared at him with sad eyes. _I'm sorry, _those eyes said, and Naruto hated those eyes.

He was the one supposed to beg for forgiveness, not her.

Mizuki, the traitor, looked at him with amusement rather than annoyance. Not just that, but his face was full with triumph. With a gesture, Naruto was placed down against a tree, and Mizuki crouched down until he was face to face with him.

"Quite ambitious, aren't you?" Mizuki smirked. "Trying to bluff us. If the scroll had been the main reason for the death of thousands, then your plan might have worked. But let me tell you a secret…you see, our goal was not the scroll.

Our goal was you."

Naruto eyes widened in surprise behind his gag, confusion etched onto his face. Mizuki only grinned in response.

"You thought that we were after the scroll the entire time. You are wrong. The scroll of kinjutsu, the scroll of secrets was you all along. You are very critical to our success, but you don't know that because you don't know what you are, and the secrets you hold inside of you. "

"Kumo does not know, but neither do you. Kumo's squad was necessary for the retrieval of you, but their death was also necessary so that they would not pry. Still, I am a merciful man. I will let you know of that secret before we alter your Jinchuriki seal to our benefit.

The truth is, the Kyuubi was sealed inside of you."

And Mizuki finally burst into sadistic chuckles at the look of despair on the boy's face, that broken ephiphany of hatred. The throes of denial flashed across the young boy's face, but Mizuki knew that Naruto could not deny.

Naruto could not deny, because he knew all along.

Surely someone as secretly intelligent as Naruto would have noticed before. His birthday coinciding with the Kyuubi, the voice the boy occasionally heard inside of him, the weird burning chakra that periodically manifested in his body, the weird seal on his stomach…the absolute hatred of him. Such were common symptoms of Jinchurikis, and the boy must have had them before.

All the while was the delicious conclusion on the boy's face…that he was a monster. Mizuki could almost hear the monster speaking out now.

"_Let me out! Let me out and kill everyone!"_

Too bad he took precautions against this.

Just as he expected, the rope around Naruto glowed with a matrix of seals meant to detain youki. It was a rope created by Orochimaru himself, the second best seal master before Jiraiya…there was nothing the boy could do.

"No…"

And then Naruto burst into smoke.

"What?" Mizuki choked out in shock, before coming to a realization. "Kai!"

And the image of Hinata faded out completely.

[{+]}

"Naruto…leave me behind…"

"Never!" Naruto vocalized. "I won't hear it!"

"The tracking seal on me…"

"I'll outrun them! I swear!"

They had to get into Konoha right now. There was no time to think about what he contained; only this innocent girl that didn't deserve anything was important right now.

He couldn't cast any genjutsu if he didn't stay still, yet with the Kage Bunshin, controlling the chakra took mere milli-seconds. Briefly, he paused in his stride and _connected_ with five kage bunshin in sight range of the ninja before remotely casting a balance-disrupting genjutsu on them.

They broke it without change in composure and continued to gain on him with rapid speed.

Damn Damn Damn Damn…these are elite ninja. They were too fast.

Already, they were ten meters behind him.

Nine.

Eight.

The ground beneath him erupted upwards, searing his legs and body. Earth jutsu, he realized, before he dropped Hinata who went tumbling across the forest floor. Mizuki, eyes filled with rage, hurled a giant shuriken at him.

It pierced him through the shoulder, impaling him against the tree. Naruto coughed up blood in response.

"Naruto Uzumaki. I underestimated your bluff greatly. Casting a visual genjutsu from above the tower, tree-walking downwards, following us, and then snatching Hinata away from us when our guard was down. You used a Kage Bunshin as a basis of your genjutsu, even as chakra control tools to cast illusions. Though out all this, you learned an A-rank technique in the span of ten minutes…Orochimaru was right. You are far too much a threat to our cause to live.

You will have to die here."

Mizuki sent out a salvo of poisoned shuriken aiming for Naruto's body, and Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for the death blow.

It never came. Naruto opened his eyes, pupils constricting at the sight in front of him.

It never came because Hinata jumped in front of him.

"Hinata…why?"

There was no time for an answer however, as another flurry of kunai came their way. A familiar figure jumped down and deflected all of it though, with Naruto immediately recognizing who that person was.

"Iruka!"

"Naruto! Take Hinata and go! The kunai are poisoned, tear them out quickly, and then run for the village!"

"But-"

"NOW!"

Naruto obeyed, panting as he went.

{[+]}

"Mizuki…I should have known it was you."

"Tch! Fool, attacking us alone-"

"Who said I was alone?"

ANBU stepped out of the trees, kunai shining in the moonlight menacingly. The team that Mizuki led halted with hesitation and Mizuki finally realized that his plot was being thwarted.

"You-"

"-never left ANBU," Iruka finished for him.

The two parties clashed, and the ring of steel filled the air. The hastily thrown together ANBU team was heavily outnumbered, yet it would do for one purpose.

To buy time.

_Sacrificing oneself for another…I guess Naruto means a lot to me, _Iruka thought and smiled. _It looks like I have finally found my family. _

Meanwhile, Naruto ran for life itself.

It would be too late though.

{[+]}

A/N: Foreshadowed that Iruka was an ANBU member in the first chapter. Lol.


	9. Chapter 8

Warning: Chapter six onwards has been rewritten.

{[+]}_  
_

_But the mortal she was with crumbled into dust…_

{{+]}

In the dark visage of the forest, a girl lay dying. Poison spreading around her body, was slowly killing her, and her body stiffened more and more each passing moment. Yet, a boy carried her, glancing at the wounds on her body. Even with his teacher fighting the Sound team off, he did not go back in hopes of saving him.

No, he would not leave.

"Naruto..." she gasped. "Am I… going…to die?"

"No!" whispered Naruto urgently. "You have so much going for you-!"

Hinata cried, her sobs being choked out. Yet Naruto continued to hoist her upon his body, a gentle hand wrapped around her torso and his other entwined with Hinata's hands, providing as much comfort as he possibly could. There was a myriad of expressions crossed Hinata's face, fear most of all, but for some reason, she found it within herself to smile.

"I'm glad…that you are here…"

Naruto didn't speak, and instead hugged her a little tighter. The trees whooshed past him, and he increased his efforts exponentially, silently screaming at her to live.

"I…have so many regrets…but…I never told you…how much I loved…you…" A gulp of air. "So alone and pathetic…the entire time I was a lifeless zombie, useless at everything…"

"…But then you came…Naruto-kun…"

"Don't waste your breath! We'll get a medic-nin!" Naruto sobbed out. "Believe it!"

"Do you remember…the birthday party? I was five…and my mother was slowly dying at the time…"

"_Okaa-san! Can we have a cake? Wait, some cookies! And a lot of mashed potatoes!"_

"_Sure Hinata-chan," Hinata's mother giggled, willing to spend her last birthday with her."Anything you want."_

"_Then we can have everyone over! There will be a huge celebration!"_

"Wanted to give my mother the best party ever…you know, she was going to die soon…"

"_Guys! Guys! Do you want to come over?" she squeaked, shivering with anticipation._

_Shikimaru sighed. "Might be too troublesome…but I'll see what I can do._

_Chouji munched. "If Shikimaru goes, I'll go."_

_Ino flipped her hair. "I might be busy, but if Sakura goes, I'll go."_

_She had been so naive then, when she had brimmed with happiness. _

"Never had any friends before…but I thought things would be different this time…"

_Hinata got up with excitement from her bed. It was her birthday! She rushed down and gasped at the amount of food on the table._

"_Happy birthday, Hinata-chan."_

"But of course…"

_The lounge was completely empty, and Hinata simply looked at it, refusing to acknowledge it._

"_Well Hinata-chan, I guess they're not here yet."_

"_I'll wait," she said determined._

_But she sat there until sun-set, and the room was still empty. _

"No one came…"

And then a brilliant smile burst out onto Hinata's face.

"But you did…"

_He was a young boy with blonde hair, his clothes muddy. In his hand was a sopping wet flier; in his other was an orange stuffed frog. _

"_Is there a birthday party here?" Naruto had said._

"_Ano…yes…"_

"_Sweet!"_

"_Sorry I'm late! Is it fine to come?" Naruto had said, just as fearful of being rejected as she was._

_But after Hinata's answer, they spent the entire day playing, and the boy came often after that. _

"I was…so happy…I thought I didn't deserve anything…"

"Hinata, we'll survive this! Then we can be friends' forever-!" Naruto cried.

"In the end, I only caused you trouble…"

"DON"T DIIIIIIEEEEEE!"

"But still…arigatou, Naruto-kun…for not letting me die…alone…"

When Hinata stopped breathing, when she stopped moving, Naruto continued to run in denial. The village was right there, so close!

But it didn't matter.

The only thing Naruto could do was scream.

{{+]}

**DIE**

A young boy slowly stood, youki billowing all around him. His eyes were shadowed, his face pointed towards the sky. The youki was carrying him towards those people. Towards them.

**DIE**

They were finished with everyone, they were preparing to leave. But Naruto was not going to let them leave, you know? This time, his revenge would bring him satisfaction.

**DIE **

They stared up towards him. One of them in particular screamed in ecstasy, face contorted in glee. But Naruto only smiled slightly in response, before his Kage Bunshin began it.

**DIE DIE DIE**

**DIE**

**DIE**

**DIE**

**DIE**

**DIE**

**DIE**

**DIE**

**DIE**

**DIE**

**DIE**

**DIE**

**DIE**

Genjutsu driven by youki, dozens of kage bunshin casting it at the same time. The ninja stood paralyzed as they saw themselves die over and over again, unable to break the images. They couldn't move, they couldn't breathe.

And one by one, his other Kage Bunshin killed them by stabbing them viciously through the throat.

He walked slowly through the forest dyed with red. Mizuki was there, shivering in horror as Naruto approached him with silent authority, smiling all the while.

"**Mizuki, you like stabbing things, don't you? Very well then, we shall pay back the favor."**

The sky turned black, the ground turned blue, and the trees turned green. A gigantic cage was there in the far off landscape, a red fox with smiling with vicious fangs.

Mizuki was restrained by something slimy, oozing bugs that chewed at his teeth and killed him slowly. His hands were spread out, and Naruto took out a hammer and nail.

"**Your first death…I'm going to impale all your fingers…and then your toes," **Naruto said before the "killings" began.

There was nothing left.

An image of Hinata and Iruka flashed through his mind.

There was nothing left.

Throughout it all, tears dripped down as he stared off distantly.

{{+]}

The Hokage stood over the blue-haired girl, his hands glowing green. Beside him, Jinne Ichiraku stood by.

"Live, for Naruto's sake," he said. "This is the least I can do."

It would not do after all, for the girl with eyes of stone to die.

{{+]}

A/N: Rewrote everything from this arc, about chapter 6 onwards. Because I wanted to progress it, and I made a lot of mistakes in the narration. Maybe I should plan a lot more before I post something...

Anyone volunteering for a beta?

Anyway, sorry for the long gap.

Thanks to roboguy, bombraider and Zlot for reviewing!


	10. Chapter 9

The sky was bright.

His eyes saw, and he could only laugh, like as if a great veil was lifted from his eyes. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that the world had been much darker once upon a time.

Konoha was a big place, yet he knew exactly where to go. His feet led him towards that place with an intent that he didn't remember.

Ramen.

"Ramen!" he cried.

He burst into the store with a primal greed and a big grin, while those two people beamed at him. They reached out and rubbed his hair while Naruto bobbed his head happily.

It felt so right. How could this not be a family?

Ayame cried, and Naruto couldn't understand. The only thing he could do was ask, and all Ayame did was sniff as she wiped the liquid from the corner of her eyes.

"Come here," she said, arms outstretched.

Naruto fell into her embrace without comprehension, with only the awareness that there was something amiss. He turned to Teuchi, who also hugged him, and laughed, with his booming voice.

"When you get out there, tell them you are Naruto. Our Naruto," he muttered, those gentle wistful eyes shining all the while. It was then that Naruto understood, and that was when they faded away.

This was the goodbye he never got to give them.

The world was abruptly sunless, and the dimness suffocated him, wrenching him earthward to an opaque bank where he would drown. Already, he felt like allowing nature to run its course, yet a part of him wanted him to screech for help.

His reached his hand out, and a gnarled strong grip met him.

He was being hefted upwards. His head burst out and in a moment of clarity, his sight was regained. That man, the brown haired one with a scar across his nose was the one hoisting him up, and despite his hesitance, he held on.

Then Hinata came, and reached for his hand too. He was frightened that she would be hauled into the obscurity, yet he didn't defy her when she grabbed his wrist.

Slowly, they grew more and more transparent as they pulled him up, and Naruto's perception changed. They were once solid, but their bodies refracted the light the higher they pulled him. What seemed so bright above him turned dull once again.

_**Give up, you idiot. There's no way you can win.**_

Their hands faded away, and Naruto watched as they were swallowed into nothingness. He felt like an empty husk, yet for some reason, he didn't yet want to fade.

They would have wanted him happy; a defiant fire rose within him.

_Give in? So many people have died to pull me out of this hole, and you tell me to give in?_

_**What should you live for? You have no one.**_

All at once, that fire roared into life as he grasped for something to pull himself up.

_So? They loved me! _

His hands grasped not a person, but a concept. An ideal.

He pulled himself up into the basin of his tailed beast. Shock and rage etched itself on the Kyuubi's face, who had clearly miscalculated.

_**What are you doing? We can rule together! The blood of the Uzumaki, the mental construct you have, you can be more than this!**_

_Me…or you? This is my body, I will construct any illusion I want, not you! I will live, not despite their deaths, but because of their deaths! I will make that darkness an illusion and smash it with my bare hands! _

A resolve to bring peace to the world took hold, a desire to end all suffering; a new goal to work towards, despite the chasm within him.

_Get out! _

It was his final command in the world he called his own.

{[+]}

"Urgh…"

Naruto painfully rose, his head bursting with agony. A gentle hand was laid on his head as he was forced back into the bed.

"Jiji…" he moaned as his wavering vision finally corrected itself.

"Shhh..."

"Are they-"

"Shh…We have time for that later…"

Why did his head hurt so much? His entire body felt like it was scrambled beyond repair as if red hot pokers were embedded into his bones.

"You're quite lucky. If it wasn't for the Kyuubi, at the very least your brain would have been broiled through sensory overload. I'm surprised you don't have a parasympathetic nervous disorder. "

"Gee, I guess I'm lucky to be the only person in this country to be the monster everyone thinks I am."

"We'll talk about that soon," the Hokage answered with a grave expression, which softened shortly after. "You caused quite a stir."

"I guess so," Naruto answered, with a fair bit of bitterness in his voice.

Just as he answered, a red haired woman barged into the room. She seemed middle-aged yet her skin was youthful in appearance. The way she carried herself spoke of dignity and confidence, even in the presence of the Hokage did she appear unfazed.

"I'm here, Hokage-sama."

"You want to talk him with now?"

Naruto could only stare at the red haired lady, because she was too similar to a certain someone.

"Jinne?"

She looked delighted at his form, contrary to all his expectations.

"Jinne doesn't have red hair," he expressed, dumbfounded.

Jinne only tittered at his response, but when she stopped; her expression was more serious despite her twinkling eyes.

"Jinne Ichiraku doesn't have red hair," she affirmed.

Then she grinned.

"But Jinne _Uzumaki _does."

{{+]}

Things were a right mess now, and Hiruzen could only sigh in despondence. The Uzumaki were looking for their clan heir, and they found him too.

Indeed, Naruto sat in front of him, cross-legged on the floor.

"Can I go?"

"…Why not? It is your right after all."

Naruto could only be silent for a long while.

"But can I see their bodies before I go?"

For a moment, Hiruzen was puzzled. And then a knowing smile broke out on his face.

"I see. You were played the entire time, Naruto."

"What?"

"They were never in danger the entire time."

Naruto blinked in astonishment.

"I don't follow."

Hiruzen sighed, and finally turned back to answering him.

"Did you really think that Konoha's security was that bad?"

There was a lengthy pause before sudden realization flashed onto Naruto's face.

"You mean-"

"Yes. They were waiting for you this morning, but they are in class right now. You can go visit if you w-"

Too bad Naruto was already out the door before Hiruzen could finish. He grumbled as he fixed his hat.

"Damn brat thinks he's the only one who knows genjutsu."

{[+]}

"_He will never wake up," _the nurse had said.

Booming footsteps echoed in the hall ways outside as a teacher shouted. It was probably another trouble-maker, Hinata didn't know.

"_I'm sorry," _the nurse had said.

She inspected her notebook blankly as Cobate-sensei continued his lecture. Nothing made sense anymore.

"_His injuries are brain-based, the chances of his recovery are slim-" _

BANG!

The door in the classroom slammed open, jolting everyone up from their seats. As with the rest of the class, Hinata stared in shock at the interrupter, who turned out to be Naruto. He locked gazes at her with surprise on his face, and at his gaze, Hinata's eyes teared up.

"Naruto…"

Hinata didn't even have enough time to let out a cry as he caught her in a bone-crushing hug in front of the entire class. Hinata's face went beet red, yet she returned the gesture just as hard.

"Naruto, you're alright," she blubbered, as she sniffled. "The nurse said that you would never wake up…!"

Naruto only sobbed against her shoulder.

"You're alive."

It was the only thing he could say.

{[+]}

A/N: Judging from the P/Ms, I really led you guys on. ROFL, I received so much rage in the private messages. You guys will probably raging for an explanation, but hopefully you won't go apeshit over me. :/

Thank you to Tikitorch559, The Forgotten Bijuu, RamenKnight and roboguy45 for your continued support!

Uh…R&R? Hopefully I didn't do it all that bad?


	11. Chapter 10

_The "mortal that crumbles into dust" can be anything._

_A robot._

_An animal._

_A long lost father._

_A long lost mother._

_But for those timelines when she falls in love._

_The song does not stop until the very end. _

_And so let the world of lies spin its course._

_And let the illusions dance in glory._

_To ends that we speak and favors shall be done._

_For the girl with eyes of stone we may conquer. _

{[+]}

It was a nice summer night.

The crickets engaged, immersed in their rhapsody of soft chirping and the weather was so warm that all the windows were open despite the dark maroon sky. Iruka entered the Ichiraku abode upstairs with an "I'm home!" merely smiling when he received no answer.

He freed the door that safeguarded Naruto's room, and lo and behold, they were asleep again. He watched them breath softly as they snuggled up against each other. It was cute, though he was going to have to talk to them about the significance of sleeping in the same futon, which they had been doing every night since Hinata moved in.

Iruka still couldn't get over how hectically Hiashi had handed Hinata over to them, and how happy Hinata had been, with her near constant blushing and embarrassed heartfelt confessions.

"_I'm so glad…" _she hadmurmured into Naruto's chest, before she sniffled against him for a long time.

Iruka couldn't help but wonder at their intimacy, but they were only ten. Also, it was probably just Naruto's way of relieving his guilt regarding Hinata's life before she moved in. At least, if Naruto's soft declarations of "you're not alone anymore" were any indication.

God, it brought a smile to his face whenever he thought about it.

As he entered the kitchen, Iruka could only scratch his head as he faced a certain woman. Kurenai Yuhi, a jounin that had been a key contributor during the Mizuki event. She was also the best friend of what Naruto dubbed "the crazy of the bitches" Anko Mitarashi, who Iruka wanted no business with but tolerated nonetheless.

Hopefully, he would finally be getting the answers he wanted in the coming conversation.

"So what do you want?" Iruka asked with a mild, polite tone. "Tea? Coffee?"

"Iced Tea," she quipped, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "No sugar. Just here for business."

With a tap, Iruka laid the teacup in front of her, who drank it gratefully before setting it back on the table. In this heat, cool drinks were a luxury that even ninja were sometimes short off, so Iruka hoped it would score a point his favor. Shortly afterwards, they exchanged small talk mostly regarding the store that they lived in.

It took a while for Kurenai to get to the point.

"Sarutobi is promoting you to the head of Konoha's academy."

Iruka's gaze grew sharper at this as he made eye contact with her.

"Why?" he eventually queried. "He's promoting me because I disrupted that entire operation?"

"No, of course not. He's promoting you because you managed to save Naruto's life. "

Iruka sipped a few quarts of tea as he thought about her reply.

"I assumed the ANBU already had Naruto's survivability covered."

"We did until Naruto's own genjutsu disrupted our genjutsu. After that, things were an absolute mess," she replied. "While you and the Hyuuga heiress was never in danger, Naruto was placed in jeopardy after Mizuki decided to kill him halfway throughout the entire occurrence."

Iruka poured Kurenai another cup of iced tea.

"And the personnel didn't anticipate that?"

"No we didn't," Kurenai admitted. "Also, we didn't expect Naruto to snap in such a manner after Hinata's blood clone died. His emotions being real were instrumental to luring Mizuki out, if not Mizuki would have blended back into our infrastructure again. Considering that he sabotaged five years of ninja education, you're the one who's going to have to pick up the pieces."

"Ah. What about the ninja that participated in Mizuki's scheme? Is there any new information?"

Kurenai shifted a bit to make herself more comfortable.

"None. All the ninja that were involved killed themselves before we could get any information from them. The Hyuuga, as always, refuse to cooperate."

"Why?"

"I suppose you know the answer to that better than I do."

For a few heartbeats, they locked gazes.

"Do we have just cause to execute them?"

"No. We have no evidence and we can't prove anything. Hinata could have died and the Hyuuga would have gotten away with killing her after using Mizuki as a scrape goat. The fact that Hiashi is very susceptible to their whims does not help much."

Iruka could only nod grimly.

"Be careful," Kurenai warned. "You and Naruto have become the main targets of the Hyuuga."

"Is there anything more you can reveal to me about the operations?"

"No. But I assure you we will try our best to minimize the repercussions that come out of this."

The conversation trailed into more small talk, before Kurenai eventually bowed; having finished the task she had been given and turned to leave.

"Thanks for the tea. It was enlightening talking to you."

"Wait!"

Kurenai paused and turned back.

"You were the leader of the operation, weren't you?" Iruka ventured knowingly.

"Yes, though I rather you didn't find out about it."

"Well, don't feel bad about how it went. We're all safe, and that's the only thing that matters."

A brief silence was replaced by a small sheepish chuckle. Kurenai bowed once again.

"I guess I had been apologizing all this time…"

{[+]}

"_I call upon the clan debt from Hyuuga onto Uzumaki and declare my price in your daughter's service until she is of age to inherit the clan throne." _

Mayo Hyuuga shook with rage as he gripped the wine glass. That infernal woman, Jinne Uzumaki, had dared make such a demand, yet they had been forced to give in to her under overwhelming political force. The Hokage's approval, Hiashi's own acknowledgement of the terms, and the other clan heads had all but guaranteed Hinata's temporary adoption into the Uzumaki clan, voiding all progress that they had made.

In blind fury, he took the glass and smashed it against the maid's head, showering the already bleeding branch member with more shrapnel.

He turned back to the table, gripping the wooden table with superhuman force as his thoughts returned to that red-haired mongrel. She had been the one who had emancipated Hinata's life and disentangled the seals meant to off that worthless bitch of an heir. Her presence and words had turned the Hokage's suspicions towards them and forced them to stow away.

Her resolve was coming back to revive a clan that would all but strive to oppose their every practice and hinder them every step of the way.

All because of Naruto Uzumaki.

Tch! He would wait. He would wait and then he would kill that useless blonde bastard.

He would bide time for the pleasure of crushing him under the soles of his foot.

And so the Hyuuga began to plot again.

{[+]}

_No, Mizuki did not understand at that time._

{[+]}

To those at the rendezvous,

Good news.

We have found our prince, the son of our highness Uzumaki Kushina.

As of now, he is being safeguarded in Konoha, but have no fear.

The Hokage has allowed us sanctuary in his village, so long as we keep our existence secret.

He has also promised resources in exchange for our services.

No doubt you may be hesitant in accepting their aid.

But remember, this is only one more step towards rebuilding our great nation.

Nevertheless, I hope to meet you at the spot beneath the great snake.

Yours truly,

Jinne Uzumaki.

{[+]}

A/N: Aaaaaand…foreshadowing done! A few explanations, but all will be revealed in the due time. Mizuki's event will have extremely long lasting consequences, unfortunately.

RamenKnight, roboguy45, BombRaider, hiNAru Aburame, The Forgotten Bijuu, IMSabbel and that Anonymous for the reviews!

I hope I stop receiving hate mail in my inbox now. D:

Uh…R&R? Hopefully?


	12. Chapter 11

Hinata was so afraid that everything was just a dream.

That one day she would wake up and be back in that house. That they would be waiting for her, dragging her into that cage that she so feared.

It was nights like those where she stayed awake, unable to relax. Her heart would palliate with anxiety as her mouth dried up, afraid that when she woke up the next morning, they would be back.

But Naruto was never more than a few feet away from her, asking her if she was okay. She would murmur a reply, and Naruto would roll over and go to sleep, and she would listen to his soft breathing.

_The girl with eyes of stone…_

Often, she rose earlier than the other two. Considering her previous living quarters, it was a habit engrained within her from a very young age, and even within this abode did her body sweat at the prospect of morning. It was always the mornings that it happened. It was always the-

Hinata turned and screamed at the intruder she spotted just outside the door. In an instant, Naruto roared awake and a herd of Kage Bunshin descended on the shadowy individual.

It turned out to be Anko.

To say the least, Naruto was not the least bit pleased to see her there.

"You crazy lady! Get the fuck out of my house!" Naruto screeched.

Anko pouted.

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

"_No! You're fucking disgusting!_"

"Oh come on, it wasn't what it looked like."

"_Then_ _why were people __**shitting **__in our house?" _ Naruto screeched yet again.

Anko could only roll her eyes.

"You have kage bunshin. It couldn't have been that bad."

Just then, Iruka walked in, immediately drawing out several kunai at the sight of Anko.

"Anko," he growled with a voice low and steady. "What the hell are you doing in our house?"

"Come on Iruka-kun. Aren't you glad to see me?"

"No. Kindly get out."

"Come on, it couldn't have been that bad."

"Anko, it took three days to clean up. Three. Days."

-Flashback-

"_Oh sweet Jesus! Is that shit on the floor?" _Iruka screamed.

"_Hey Iruka-kun," _Anko winked.

-End Flashback-

"It was just a prank," Anko whined.

Naruto immediately expressed what he thought about her prank with a long string of explicit diatribe. Iruka failed to scold Naruto for his language.

Hinata could only feel relieved.

She cherished every single day that they were together, because one day, they would leave her in the blink of an eye.

Even for a short moment, she wanted to be happy.

{[+]}

"Naruto, no pranks. No casting genjutsu on other people, no harem jutsu, stop picking fights with Sasuke and making fun of his name."

Naruto pouted.

"But calling him Sas-gay is really therapeutic." Naruto grinned. "Ne, Hinata?"

Hinata could only give a small smile and she watched as Naruto and Iruka returned to their daily banter. It felt so good to be beside them, yet it felt so wrong…

"…nata? Hinata?"

"Huh?"

"Are you alright today?"

"I'm fine," she whispered back.

Naruto could only grin.

"That's good. We haven't done a welcome party for you yet."

"A-Ano...a…Party?"

"A party! To welcome you into the family! We never got to celebrate because of all the shit that happened afterwards, but we can make a really good one!"

"Language," Iruka scolded. "Why can't you be more like Hinata?"

"Well excuse me!"

The two returned to their daily bantering amongst Naruto's outbursts of "We'll make it the best party ever!" while he made all sorts of crazy suggestions. Every now and then, he turned towards her and proclaimed her as princess, while Hinata felt so distant that it hurt.

A party…huh?

Her father never threw a party for her after her mother's death. He never acknowledged her; he never even publicly acknowledged her birth date. Even Hanabi got a soft, stern "happy birthday" on her days in the breakfast table, but never Hinata.

She relinquished everyone after her mother's death. Uncle Hizashi deceased because she was powerless; the brother she used to have detested her now because she killed his father, and Hanabi despised her because she was so pathetic. So no one even cared or knew when her date was. She never deserved a celebration.

So why were these people treating her so nicely?

The warmth inside of her could only beat unbearably quickly now, like a heart on overload, as she walked among these people. They smiled at her, grinned at her, and made her feel like she was accepted.

Why? Why would anyone accept her?

Warmth spilled out of her eyes and down her cheeks. She wiped at it frantically with her sleeves, but…

"Hinata?"

She tried to stop the guttural sounds coming out her throat.

"A-Ano…*sob*…. I don't even know w-why I'm c-c-crying *sob* but I…*sob*…I…"

She tried to hide her face, hide herself from these people that would leave her…but Naruto grabbed her wrists and…

He was so soft. Warm. He smelled so nice.

"Don't hide that face. It's a beautiful face."

"I-I-I'm not beautiful…"

Naruto's voice was so gentle.

"You're not alone anymore Hinata. You're our family now, ne?"

"I…I…*sob*…"

"We won't be alone anymore."

For some reason, Hinata couldn't make anything intelligent come out of her throat after this. The whole experience was just too surreal. It was just that…

Ah, she was so pathetic.

Clinging on to these two people and never wanting to let go.

{[+]}

"You know, Naruto is really similar to you. Iruka too. Most of us are."

Hinata looked up at Anko with surprise, whose face was unusually somber.

"At some point of our lives, we were all alone. Iruka's parents died, Naruto is hated by almost everyone, and there's a reason why they live in a ramen shop. They don't like to talk about it very much, but the execution a few months ago was very public."

Anko took a big gulp from her sake bottle.

"…I used to have a teacher. He meant everything to me, but he left me and betrayed me, he left me for dead. And you're probably like that too. You'll go through life and question every relationship that you have."

At this, Anko slammed the sake bottle on the table.

"But you know what? Somewhere out there, there are a group of people that you will find. They will pick you up from the hole in the ground, and you'll be afraid of grabbing their hand. However, if you grab their hand, and they pull you up, you'll see that the world isn't just the hairy ass stuck in your eyes. You'll see that shit gets better."

Her voice trailed off, but the words lingered, and suddenly, Hinata felt like talking too.

"…I used to have a dream," Hinata said. Anko perked up and fell silent. "In a house where nobody liked me and almost everybody wanted me dead, I used to think about Naruto a lot. I wanted…I wanted him to kill me, because if I was going to die, I wanted my suffering to end by the boy who came to my fifth birthday party."

"…But now what?"

"…I don't know. But I don't want them to leave me. I want to stop being so pathetic...!" Hinata grasped an illusionary object. "I want to…I want to get stronger!"

And Anko laughed, her sake spilling all over the place. She slapped Hinata's back good-naturedly as she shoved a bottle of alcohol into Hinata's hands.

"That's the spirit! If life gives you lemons, eat them and shit rainbows! Make it better! Win that boyfriend of yours!"

Hinata spluttered and blushed, but was cut off by Anko's grin, by which she found herself smiling back.

"I don't usually teach brats, but if you want, I'll make an exception for you as payment for hiring male prostitutes to shit in your house." Anko paused. "Oh yeah, tell Naruto that you know about his fuzzy tenant. He's afraid you'll leave him if you find out about his status, so shatter that illusion."

"I won't ever leave him…!"

"See? You're not the only one scared of being alone."

Hinata was speechless for a while, but then she smiled at the revelation. Glancing at the sake bottle in her hands, Hinata impulsively took a sip.

Anko would later be screamed at by Naruto, Iruka and Kurenai respectively.

{[+]}

A/N: A longer than usual chapter. Exploring Hinata's growth as a character and the dynamics between everyone as a whole. Anko will play an important role, as will Kurenai. So will Iruka, and eventually Kakashi.

The Uzumaki will make a cameo appearance soon.

Thanks to Bombraider, Moonlight Phoenix, RamenKnight, Kanrei, Roboguy, and the Anonymous for the reviews!

Uh…R&R? Tell me what you think? .


	13. Chapter 12

[What are genjutsu?

Genjutsu are images created according to a user's imagination border. It is a temporary manipulation of reality itself, more than just a deception or a way to alter perception, contrary to popular belief.

Unlike ninjutsu, which becomes more powerful as more chakra is pumped into it, genjutsu becomes more potent as more layers are woven into it. An apt description of it would be a thread of strings. How you weave it determines the structure of it, what you use to weave it determines the texture of it. Different imagination borders have an affinity for different threads; one could say that each genjutsu is merely an expression of an individual's mental construct.

Unfortunately, the nature of weaving genjutsu is a very delicate procedure, as not many have imagination borders capable of going past the bare outline of a genjutsu, let alone the chakra.

Those that do have a cemented imagination border however, are capable of manipulating genjutsu to their wishes and enhancing it with emotions and memories. To those people, even rewriting reality itself is possible, mostly observed in the form of an expressed mental construct.

The Mangyeko Sharingan, for instance, is rumored to be a prime example of this. ]—"The Reality of Illusions, Imagination Borders"

{[+]}

Wisps of blue chakra whirled around the blonde-haired boy, a vortex of energy so bright that it was almost blinding to Hinata's eyes. He laid perfectly still in a sitting position, breaths slow and steady, while two Kage Bunshin sat on either side of him.

Inside those two Kage Bunshin, chakra rearranged themselves into a specific pattern, most of them gathered in their head. The ram seal was subtly held in front of them. Naruto visualized darkness, and imprinted it into the Kage Bushin around him.

Processes load.

Increments ready.

Arbiter fire.

Hinata moved to intercept him, but in an instant, all Hinata could see was the two Kage Bunshin releasing the pattern that they held. Darkness engulfed her, and suddenly she was in a sea of obscurity, a dissolute blackness that impressed upon her.

She tried to break the genjutsu, and with a burst of chakra from her eyes, the darkness dissolved slightly and the outsight world became visible though blurry. However, a new layer of black consumed her and no matter how many times she spiked her jutsu or used her eyes, she couldn't get out. Desperately in blind panic, she clawed at the darkness, but-

She was drowning! She couldn't move! She couldn't-

"Hinata."

She gasped, and the light stung her eyes. The genjutsu was gone, the faint trace of chakra being drawn back to their masters. Naruto held the kunai to her neck.

"I win this round," he said apologetically. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I-It's okay," Hinata insisted. "I-It's okay. I was just surprised, that's all."

"Good job, Naruto." Kurenai interjected.

Naruto paused, grinned, and then scratched his head sheepishly, while Kurenai turned to the blue-haired girl. Her eyes flashed with curiosity.

"How many tiers did Naruto weave into that genjutsu?"

"A-Ano…I don't know. I broke through the first layer but the rest converged and overwhelmed me…It looked to be about a fifth tier genjutsu, there were too many layers, so it was too thick for me to break."

Kurenai nodded. "I'm surprised, Naruto. What kind of ideal did you weave that was able to overwhelm a dojutsu user?"

Naruto grin faded and he hesitated before speaking. "…Loneliness. I visualized it as a void, and I weaved it into the kuragami no jutsu that you taught me. I made it beyond just shutting down eyesight…I thought of despair first."

Solemn silence filled the air, and Kurenai apologized as she understood the implications.

"I shouldn't have asked you such a private question."

"It's fine. I trust both of you."

"A-Ano…Naruto! Your Kage Bunshin!"

Naruto grimaced as he dispelled them, cursing his vast chakra reserves. Even without the fox, his chakra reserves were gargantuan; easily ten times the average jounin's pools, which were both a blessing and a curse.

That amount of reserves made it almost impossible for Naruto to control anything, and even the best chakra dampeners were broken within seconds. Technically, it should have been impossible for him to cast genjutsu, or even ninjutsu for that matter, and Kage Bunshin was the only chakra-intensive tool he had in his arsenal.

He had the Kage Bunshin to thank for the fact that he could cast anything at all.

Kage Bunshin allowed him isolate chakra outside of the body and manipulate it from there. If his body was the bullets, his Kage Bunshin were the guns. The problem with this was that controlling chakra outside of the body was difficult, and the exercise that Iruka gave him was something he relied on extensively. The only way he could control chakra was by staying still, if not the control and focus he needed would be shot to hell.

Spamming Kage Bunshin was easy for him though, and mixing them with bunshin made good distractions. Also, he was working on controlling chakra outside of the body, without needing to stay still.

"I could have counted the number of times Hinata almost found you and screwed you over," Kurenai commented wryly. "Your veil genjutsu was barely enough to confound the Byakugan, if she had focused on you directly…"

"Oh come on!" Naruto whined. "I won, didn't I?"

Hinata giggled beside him.

One on one, Naruto was no match for Hinata in a taijutsu bout.

{[+]}

In society, it is almost imperative for people to be jealous of individuals better than them. Hinata was like this to most of the girls.

Today, Naruto watched as Hinata eked out a win against Kiba with a combination of palm strikes. This by itself was a notable accomplishment, considering that Kiba was the second best taijutsu user.

Under Anko, her taijutsu improved by leaps and bounds. She swayed as fluid as a snake, her Juuken strikes were as swift as any cobra's lunge, her flexibility allowed her to bend around Kiba's attacks with lithe grace. The hesitation that she used to have had diminished greatly during her taijutsu matches, despite her inherently shy nature.

Indeed, she was improving. Currently, she probably had four wins, two draws, and eight losses against Kiba, the past four wins having been a streak. Naruto didn't know it, but his support and Anko's attention had done wonders for the girl's esteem and confidence.

On the side lines, Naruto watched alongside the rest of his classmates, as he let out a cheer for Hinata every now and then. Behind him, most of the girls held identical looks of disgust at the sight of Hinata, with the exception of Ino, who wore a perplexed expression, and Sakura, who was too busy pestering Sasuke for a date. He could care less about what they thought. Hinata was his friend, and he would never let her go.

Naruto smiled fondly at his memories with Hinata and Iruka. A tinge of sadness assailed him as he thought of Teuchi and Ayame, but joy had filled him as well. He had moved on, but they would always live on in the genjutsu he casted.

If only the days could go on like this forever, with him, Hinata, Iruka, Kurenai and Anko-sensei.

He heard the shuffle of feet towards him and turned towards Cobate-sensei, who was approaching him. Naruto wondered if Cobate found out it was him who spiked Kiba's drink with Viagra, and considered running away, but decided against it. Cobate-sensei reminded him of Hinata sometimes, and he found himself avoiding giving him any semblance of a hard time. He always had a soft spot for people like Hinata.

"Naruto…the Hokage requests your presence."

Naruto felt his hackles rise; he still held a small grudge for the old man since the genjutsu incident. Still, he couldn't quite blame him either, because they all got out of it for the better.

"I'm on it," he replied.

{[+]}

The Hokage tower was exactly as Naruto remembered it, with the wooden varnish layering the walls and the floor. The old man was also sitting in the exact same spot as last time, that time during the Mizuki incident. Naruto forced his emotions down and decided to deal with him professionally.

"Naruto," the old man said. "Do you remember Jinne?"

"Um yeah. There's no way I could have forgot about the woman who saved Hinata's life."

"Good. Do you remember going back on your agreement to return to the Uzumaki?"

"Yes."

"Well, they want you to be the clan heir of the Uzumaki that are moving in."

For a moment, Naruto could only blink in shock.

"Um, why?"

The Hokage sighed.

"I believe we'll have to spill some secrets to you sooner than I would have liked."

{[+]}

A few hundred miles away, a herd of people carried out a migration on an assemblage of boats, scheduled to reach the land of fire in a week. Although there were a few individuals who were disgruntled about the journey, the majority were excited to live in the estate they were promised, which had far better living conditions than the caves they were concealed in.

Not just that, but the concept of having their beloved prince back warmed many hearts. After all, the Kyuubi had always belonged to them. And if he was like anything Jinne-sama had described him as, he would be a fine boy indeed.

The sea water splashed around them as they navigated through the mist.

They were coming home.

{[+]}

A/N: Developing Hinata and Naruto's expertise as ninja. I don't how to go about this without it being boring, but I have to gain writing experience regarding this sometime soon, also trying to balance out advancing the plot and not rushing it out at the same time.

Sigh…I lack the talent. D:

Thanks to RamenKnight, Bombraider, Pyr00tje, Tikitorch559, roboguy45, mellra, RedEye00, TheForbiddenBijuu, and the anonymous for the reviews. :D

Uh…R&R?


	14. Chapter 13

They had both changed.

The Naruto that drew comfort from loud endeavors had deceased. In the presence of people who truly mattered, he was a bit more content, more calm, his humor more deadpan. The waves of sudden depression after their deaths had faded away with Hinata's and his presence in the household; the attention-grabbing stunts that he used to indulge in were no longer desperate cries for help.

Hinata's metamorphosis had been more subtle. She still stuttered, her tone was still soft and apologetic. But if you looked for it, if you squinted for it, there was the inconspicuous line of steel in every word she said. Hidden inside her was a flame that propelled her not to be a burden, a resolve to protect the people around her.

They both had that sort of silent confidence that needed no approval from others. Iruka couldn't blame them.

After all, how intimidating would other genin be in comparison to a lifetime of oppression and a handful of near-death experiences? Iruka mused the answer to that question as he drew open the curtains.

"Wakey! Wakey!" Iruka shouted as he violently jerked the curtains open.

He felt guilty about nudging them awake so early in the morning, but they shouldn't have accepted Anko's 5am training in the first place. This time, they were on their own, though Iruka was sure that they could handle it together.

A series of dopey actions later and Naruto was sitting at the breakfast table, with Hinata somehow staying perfectly roused despite the early hour.

"So the genin exams are in a few months."

Naruto reached out for a slice of toast.

"Yeah."

The decision to apply for the genin exam this year instead of staying within the academy was a hard choice for Naruto to make. But with what Iruka knew about his life, he deduced that it was Naruto's way of dealing with the upcoming turmoil. That, and the sudden desire for training sessions with Anko, which Iruka winced with sympathy at.

No, Naruto couldn't stay a naive academy student forever. It was sad, but his innocent days were numbered, and an entire clan was coming over. It was time for him to grow up, because his presence was likely to draw everyone around him into the crossfire.

Iruka could only sigh.

{[+]}

Anko's training montage was torturous, and not in a good way. It was more like a "if you don't take this seriously you might die" sort of path, which was a sharp contrast from Kurenai's intellectual and gentle approach.

The forest of death was practically one of the most dangerous reservations in Konoha, and Anko was home there. It was essentially her domain.

Hinata, unfortunately, was flung into the forest on the first day of training, by whom was salvaged by Iruka and Naruto no less than a few hours later. Then Kurenai spent the ensuing hour clarifying to Anko why "letting the little shits beat the crap out of each other" was not an acceptable way to train.

Yet for some abnormal cause, they still allowed Hinata to part with the crazy bitch for training, mainly because of Hinata's stubborn, stuttering insistence on it. Naruto and Iruka were both worried, yet they were both concerned about being too coddling, so they left her alone.

Well, she definitely wouldn't be alone with Anko after this.

"Good job, kiddo," Anko gloated. "You almost got me with that genjutsu, but you're not any match for me."

Naruto could only hiss in pain as a kage bunshin held him up. The poison…it burned, even with the fox in him. He grimaced at the thought of Anko's poison layered fingernails, and her other unsavory taijutsu methods.

Even sweet, shy Hinata couldn't help but wince at her sensei's methods at times.

Like that time when she took over the sex-education department, and proceeded to show everyone much more than they would have liked to know.

That was the first and last time Naruto ever collaborated with Anko on a prank. Yeah, it was funny at first with the lube and the Barbie dolls, but the anal plug, snakes and the blow up doll was something that just could not be described without doing the scene justice.

Either Anko was an Einstein at being batshit insane, or she was just that good at fucking with everyone at the same time.

Considering her track record, Naruto supposed his first joint training session with Hinata under the crazy bitch could have been worse, but still.

How could he ever have left his blue-haired friend alone with this insane bitch?

Said blue-haired girl proceeded to jump in front of him to engage with the crazy lady in taijutsu in an effort to buy time. Naruto admired her bravery and far better taijutsu skills, yet cursed it at the same time.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted, as he proceeded to spam Kage Bunshin to even the odds.

His efforts only elicited a "come here you little wankers!" as Anko gleefully moved on to plow through the Kage Bunshin and force Hinata on the defensive. All Hinata could do was dodge, as a slight touch from Anko's fingernails was potentially toxic enough to incapacitate her.

Naruto forced himself to calm down as one of the Kage Bunshin on the tree tops switched with him and casted a veil genjutsu on him. Anko was confident, that was to be sure. So how could he use that confidence to his advantage?

Above, out of the fray, he began to concentrate.

_Processes load. _

Two Kage Bunshin among the fray locked their eyes on to the target individual as the enormous army of Kage Bunshin whittled down in their efforts to help Hinata stay afloat.

_Increments ready. _

Anko threw down several smoke bombs, preventing Naruto from casting line by sight genjutsu. She lunged for the Hinata who had body switched with one of his Kage Bunshin.

_Arbiter fire. _

Hinata looked around in panic and squeaked as Anko body flickered at her among the chaos. However, Anko's aim went slightly off-kilter the other way, and Hinata jumped on the opportunity with prejudice after a slight pause.

Anko didn't know that perception-altering genjutsu could be casted without eye sight if the user was skilled enough.

Yet, Anko wasn't elite for nothing. She broke Naruto's second-tier genjutsu in a split second, about fourteen seconds less than how long it took Naruto to craft it. Anko caught Hinata's strike and rammed her against the forest tree, forcing her to body switch out with a Kage Bunshin.

"Damn," Naruto cursed.

Hinata was now severely injured, and Naruto was running out of brain power to support his Kage Bunshin use. Every Kage Bunshin with memories flooded Naruto with sensory information when it dispelled. With each bunshin that dispelled, Naruto was one step closer to suffering from a major headache and losing all capability to cast genjutsu.

Fuck.

It was going to be a long session.

{[+]}

"Iruka-sensei, Hinata and Naruto are sleeping."

"I know," Iruka said, exasperated.

His eyes trailed over to Hinata lying against Naruto's shoulder and Naruto delicately snoring into Hinata's hair. It was quite cute actually, the way they leaned into each other, but it was also rather distracting to the entire class.

Usually, he wouldn't tolerate sleeping during lectures, but since they survived Anko he was more than willing to allow an exception. Seriously, even after publicly banning her from the school, Cobate still begged not to resume his teaching responsibilities, by which were eked out with really loud pathetic sobs. Although Iruka was head, and his word regarding education was law, he couldn't bring himself to order Cobate back.

So he was teaching for a while, hopefully not for long.

He sighed at the interest they were gathering.

{[+]}

"Since when did they become such good friends?" Ino muttered to herself. "And when did Naruto befriend her?"

She scratched her head.

"I wonder…does that have anything to do with Hinata becoming so good at taijutsu?" she asked curiously.

Shikimaru gave her a calculative glance as she resolved to approach them sometime this week.

"How troublesome," he muttered to himself.

{[+]}

A/N: I'm sorry it's been such a long time. I've taken the time to respond to each of your reviews individually, but writing has been a lot harder as of late. A series of bad events slammed me into depression for the last week, and I've literally been unable to write anything until now.

It's weird, when you're depressed, not even a salvo of reviews can cheer you up. I'm not the kind of person that goes on a drinking spree, so I played wii games with my friends for like two days straight to forget about the past week. Socialize the crap out of sadness.

You know how they say video games can relieve depression? It's actually true.

Thanks to RedEye00, Chandagnac, NightShadeGirl, Culebra del Sol, Solvdrage, roboguy45, Tikitorch559, Pyr00tje, RamenKnight and Bombraider for reviewing. My goodness, the amounts of reviews…

Lol, I feel like I'm letting all of you down. Sigh, thinking about that makes me depressed too, which makes me feel pathetic. Having standards to live up to is stressful.

Hopefully I'll be back up and running in a while.


	15. Chapter 14

Ino was many things to Shikimaru; annoying, loud, shallow and troublesome. But if there was one thing that she wasn't, it was a liar.

So when she rushed over to warn him that Chouji was going to get harassed by a couple of upper classman that had a grudge on Chouji's father, Shikimaru believed her, and stopped looking lazy for once.

Usually, harassment in the academy was rare. The ANBU patrolling the area tended to enforce a blockade on all physical confrontations not in taijutsu bouts. But that didn't stop certain assholes from chipping in every now and then through the cracks of opportunities.

Shikimaru would rather spare his best friend the pain of any gesture, thank you very much.

His mentality led to both of them bounding upstairs, with Ino leading the way. They wound around the wooden walls, the lockers, and burst into the cafeteria. There Chouji was, being cornered by three unruly males and a few sniggering females, but a familiar duo was already entangled in the situation.

Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki; two individuals Shikimaru never expected to get involved in the first place. They had a reputation of being distant from everyone else besides each other and Iruka-sensei, so much that people thought Hinata was stuck up, or a brat in Naruto's case.

Naruto was especially unpopular for his pranks, dead-last status, and his alleged involvement regarding the crazy lady that traumatized half the school.

As for Hinata, she was generally unnoticed until now, but was now detested by the females in his class for the exact opposite reasons, jealously mostly. They were probably the most unpopular duo in his class right now among non-clan members.

Surprisingly, they were rather well-liked among clan members such as Kiba, and it looked as if they were about to demonstrate why.

"I would like it if you left him alone," Naruto articulated.

"Who is this squirt?" One of them sneered. Naruto simply blinked, undaunted.

"You know, if you don't stop, I'll kick your ass." Naruto stated.

The boy's response was to work up a punch, but for some reason, his blow went so far wide to the right that it was as if he was never aiming for Naruto in the first place. Hinata rushed forward and speared him in the crotch.

Naruto then turned towards the other instigators while Hinata moved forward to engage them. For some reason, the people they were fighting against suddenly suffered jerky, uncoordinated movements as if they were drunk.

"What?" Shikimaru muttered as he watched Hinata take all of them down with ease. Naruto was standing in the background forming handsigns… but that was impossible, Naruto casting jutsu?

Apparently yes, confirmed when Naruto turned angrily towards a girl who had said landed a blow against Hinata.

High-pitched wails of pain filled the air as said girl buckled against the floor. Naruto stood over her as she sobbed and cried out for help. For a few horror filled seconds, people watched as the girl vomited in her throes of pain.

"Naruto stop!" Hinata suddenly articulated, and then whatever Naruto was doing halted.

Shikimaru noticed the tell-tale signs of a replacement technique, adding to the mystery. Did Naruto just replace himself with himself? He had noted no reason for a replacement technique to be employed in this situation, and he had no knowledge of the type of jutsu Naruto had utilized.

"Do you guys want us to kick your ass again?" Naruto asked.

When they were too incoherent to answer, Naruto simply ignored them and joined Hinata in her efforts to help Chouji up. Chouji, like him and Ino, was a bit too in shock to even generate a thank you. Then, the duo left as if they didn't just force five individuals to the ground.

"What happened? What kind of jutsu was that?" Ino asked.

For once, Shikimaru had no idea.

[{+]}

"Naruto?"

Naruto was brought back to reality, realizing that he hadn't even eaten half his bento box.

"Yeah?"

"You seem tired lately."

Naruto tried to smile, but Hinata knew him well enough to know when he was faking it. A throbbing headache burst at the seams of his mind, interfering with everything that he did today, making him irritated and stressed out at everything. To think that he would have lost it like that, directly picking a fight and casting a third-tier genjutsu on one of them…

"Maybe I'm just a little troubled."

Hinata frowned.

"Does it have anything to do with your meeting with the Hokage a week back?"

"I-"Naruto paused, then looked ashamed. "Something like that."

Hinata didn't like to pry as she wasn't the type of person to stick her nose into other people's business. However, Naruto was her best friend, and she knew how stressed he was despite his attempts to hide it. His unexpected resolve to train harder than usual, going as far as to join Anko's sessions in the morning, the haunted looks that flickered onto his face, and finally, the restless nights…

"I'm sorry," Naruto suddenly said.

"Sorry for what?"

"For losing my temper back then. "

"That wasn't your fault," Hinata replied softly. "It's just that you're worrying me because I know that there is something wrong."

Naruto paused, unsure of what to say. Yet, something compelled him to speak anyway.

"If an entire kingdom overseas suddenly declared you as their princess and you were placed under all sorts of expectations, what would you do?"

"I would be really nervous," Hinata replied earnestly.

"What if you knew that there was an organization of god-ranked ninja that was out for you? What if you knew that everyone around you would be drawn into your mess of a life?" Naruto said as he speared a piece of meat viciously.

"I don't know," Hinata replied. "But if I was the best friend of such a person, I wouldn't care."

Naruto dropped the bento box onto the ground and turned towards her. Vehement feelings surfaced on his face.

"But I do!" he burst.

Immediately after he said those words, he found himself inwardly shamed at the tone and ferocity of his response. However, Hinata did something that surprised him.

She hugged him.

Both of them flushed red, Hinata at her actions, Naruto in surprise. That time when they had slept against each other in class was still a source of embarrassment for both of them, and in bewilderment, Naruto flopped backward.

Hinata didn't let go, instead bending forward, wrapping her arms around his throbbing head. Naruto stiffened in shock, but abruptly relaxed as they both lay in the grass. She felt him expel deep and exhausted breaths into the nape of her shoulder.

"You know, two people were killed this way," Naruto murmured into her. "I don't know what I'll do if two more people die… I once thought you both actually did depart, and the world was so much emptier because of it, so much that I wanted to run away with the Uzumaki and forget about it all."

"But we are here. All of us. For you."

Naruto breathed out deeply and hugged Hinata back, while Hinata smiled.

"Just like what you told me."

Naruto clutched at her clothes.

"…Damn it; I might cry, but I outgrew that years ago."

Hinata giggled.

"I'll probably never grow up then," she said.

"Lucky you, growing up sucks," Naruto muttered back. "I guess growing out of being emo isn't so bad, though being old would."

"Yeah," Hinata replied. "Naruto?"

"Yes?"

"When I want you to smile, I want it to be real."

Naruto mused for a bit, before he did smile.

{[+]}

"Whoo!" Jinne said fondly. "They've grown."

Kakashi stood behind his dog mask, frowning. He didn't like the way Jinne had simulated such a situation just to scrutinize the reactions of two children. But he stayed silent as she continued her commentary.

"So valiant too, my my…they've really become stronger…I wonder, have you guys told Naruto of his heritage yet?"

"No," he replied evenly.

"What a shame, what does he know besides the fact that he is somehow royalty and Akastuki is out to get him?"

"Nothing."

"Well, now that I'm back, I might consider correcting that."

Kakashi merely gritted his teeth at that statement.

{[+]}

A/N: Wow, I'm back. Had a lot of problems, including a two day trip to end with the summer, a virus-infected laptop, and dealing with summer ending and getting back to work. I'll try my best to resume my previous schedule of updates, although it will be harder as summer ends.

Thanks to Tikitorch559, roboguy45, RedEye00, Chandagnac, Solvdrage, and Nightshadegirl. Phew! The amount of support is really great! I honestly try to write for the sake of writing, but the support keeps me posting it online!

Hopefully, I did okay.

R&R?


	16. Chapter 15

Surprisingly, Iruka knew a lot about dressing up, despite the fact that Naruto had never seen him go to a formal celebration. It was something that he was thankful for, because the only semblance of fashion Naruto ever had was his bright orange jumpsuit and maybe a tank top with short orange jeans.  
The only thing he was aiming for was looking presentable, though he suspected Iruka and Hinata were over doing it. Indeed, Hinata let out a soft squee as Naruto turned around reluctantly in his new outfit.  
Iruka merely smirked.  
"You know, it's the first time Hinata's been allowed to dress you up."  
Naruto merely grumbled half-heartedly, but he was also glad his two most trusted companions were taking the whole situation lightly. Considering how socially awkward he was, it was hard not to freak out at the possibility of speaking to a crowd.  
Still, joking around with them allowed him to ease the inherit jitteriness in his muscles for a while. It was a shame that Jinne hadn't been all that reassuring about the whole ordeal though, because he felt far less enthusiastic about the event than finding out what Anko did with her sexual organs.

He was jerked out of his thoughts with the knock outside the door, pressing him to answer it. It didn't take a genius to understand that the escort for the night was here, but what greeted him shocked the stuffing out of him. There was a luxurious carriage, two ANBU squads, and the Hokage himself. Four grand horses lined the front of the carriage, in the streets illuminated by Chinese red lanterns, they looked absolutely intimidating.  
"Isn't this a bit much?" Naruto muttered to himself, as his nervousness only compounded.  
But a soft hand grabbed his from behind.  
"We'll be waiting for you," Hinata said when he turned to face her. She had worn a concerned expression, but her hand squeeze conveyed the rest.  
Iruka noted the subtle yet noticeable-if-you-squint blushes on their faces, and grinned with a tinge of exasperation. Those two…sometimes he felt left out of their interactions. But it couldn't be helped, his new job kept him from interacting with them as much as he would have liked.  
"Ganbatte, Naruto."  
Naruto grimaced at him, but his expression was strangely grateful at the same time. Poor boy, dealing with that sort of situations at that age, Iruka would have hated to be him. It seemed as if Naruto had the worst luck in the universe at times, but Iruka loved him all the same.

"Naruto," the old Hokage began. "They are waiting."

It was their cue to leave, and Naruto gave a last fleeting look towards his house mates, who had tried to look as reassuring as they could. With that, he was led away.  
"Do you think he'll be alright?" Hinata asked Iruka with her signature soft, lilting voice.  
Iruka pretended to muse the question before he patted Hinata's head and smiled kindly.  
"It's Naruto," Iruka answered which a touch of humor.  
Hinata merely smiled in relief at the answer. A revelation thronged in the back of her mind.  
"You're right."

{[+]}

The clan was in high spirits. No longer did they have to live in marshy caves, in muddy huts, to hide in less than pleasant conditions. They were still stowed away, yes, but they were now under the secret protection of the strongest village in the five nations. In fact, the Hokage had opened up to them with wide arms, even giving them the supplies needed to commemorate their annual consecration.

The founding of Uzushiogakure.

The decision to arrive in Konoha around that day was done for several reasons; the auspicious date was one of them. The fact that they celebrated this occasion no less than a week after they arrived here was a good sign to the more superstitious; it signaled towards future success in rebuilding their nation. It was like another founding; a rebirth.

But the most excitement of all concentrated among the children. To most of them, luxury was something rarely seen in their harsh life in the marshes around wave country. Meat was rare, as well as rice. Mostly, gruel had been their diet from birth until now. However, the sight of so much food, so many bright lights despite the dark sky, so much clamoring of celebration sent them up an inflated high of hysteria. People laughed. People laughed. Cymbals clanged, drums rang and groups danced.

There were rows and rows of tables with food, while alcohol was distributed to adults indiscriminately. There was a constant buzz in the air, a certain magic. Despite the fact that the remnants of Uzushiogakure numbered only a few hundred, the throng was thick and heavy.

Misao Uzumaki had been one of the children that were there, caught up in the flurry of it all. Her red hair came down to shoulder-length in braids, her face set itself in a permanent expression of awe at the celebration. Meanwhile, a red-haired boy beside her, Kain, scoffed at her enthusiasm, yet couldn't help be more than a bit impressed at his surroundings.

"You know, Jinne-sama said that Kushina-hime's son was here!" she gushed. Kain rolled his eyes.

"I bet that's just a stupid rumor."

Misao turned to give him a look that threatened physical retribution, but then all the celebration settled down to a hush abruptly as a band of notable individuals had arrived.

Jinne-sama was among them, as well as the Hokage, shutting all celebration and noise down in a heartbeat as the clan anticipated his words. Among them, Misao began to fidget.

"Everyone!" he addressed. "It is a great honor to have all of you here after so many years of separation. When the war had hit your country and ravaged your lands, when we were unable to salvage anyone, our village was saddened beyond compare. To this day, we celebrate your sacrifice in that war, for without the battle of the bridge we would never have survived the five-way battle. I'm sure you have all heard the tales of the legendary ninjas of Uzushiogakure, on how they took on three great powers and inflicted them with massive casualties, allowing us, Konoha, to eventually emerge as the victor."

His speech sent waves of seriousness among the crowds.

"You thus know that other nations still fear you. If they know of your existence they were seek you out and destroy you, and Konoha cannot afford a war in this era. Of course, we are more than happy to be reconciled, but your existence must be kept hidden at all costs. Indeed, while I am more than happy to accept you within our ranks, you must understand how important staying hidden is. "

Several individuals frowned at this; neither the elders nor Jinne-sama had spoken of this. To some, a troubling mood began to plague them as the Hokage continued his speech. It was a speech boring to most of the children, but to the members of the clan, it was tremendously important, for it detailed many conditions of their stay.

"…Thus, from this day forth, all symbols of Uzushiogakure must be hidden, none of you may leave this site without permits, the use of jutsu is forbidden-"

A roar of outrage drowned out the Hokage's list of demands despite the logic of his statements. The sentiment among the general populace was this: even if they were a fallen nation, they still had their roots in tradition and pride.

"This is nothing better than being held prisoner!" one of them shouted out.

"We were not told of this!"

It would have gotten more out of control if it wasn't for the older and more level-headed elders, as well as Jinne-sama speaking up.

"All of you!" she raged, dealing a hammer blow to their frenzy. "If you think that leaving here and going back into hiding among the dumps is better than staying here, you are all fools!"

Akai Uzumaki, a hot-headed young but prominent speaker moved on to contend with her heatedly, but was shut down by an interjection by one of the elders.

"I agree with Jinne," Elder Pachinko rasped, and all fell silent to hear her barely audible voice. As one of the founders of Uzushiogakure centuries back, she was highly respected despite her old age. She was the prime example of how Uzumaki blood gave their bearers great longevity along with copious amounts of chakra. "The way we were going, we would not have achieved anything, not even in a thousand years."

"Then what?" Akai demanded. "We are sacrificing our pride just for a tentative alliance with a village that abandoned us during the third shinobi war?"

"No. We are here because of a tradition far more important than our pride," Jinne intercepted. Akai raised an eye brow.

"And what is this tradition?"

"Don't tell me you forgot? To honor a descendent of true lineage, which we once thought lost with the death of Kushina-sama of course!"

Murmurings ran through the crowd once Jinne finished.

"But, that was…" he began.

Akai finally noticed the carriage right behind her.

"Is that…?"

"Yes," Jinne said. "He's the container of the nine-tailed demon fox, just like his mother, Kushina-hime."

The angered buzz of the crowd ebbed as most of them came to a realization, and a young boy of blonde hair climbed out of the door, directly adjacent to Jinne. On his face was shock, but he had no time to express it as Elder Pachinko approached him and grabbed his face.

"That jawbone…those eyes…" she whispered as he stared into his eyes and began to cry. "…Indeed as the clan had hoped, Jinne was correct."

There were more murmurs; all of them had known the contents of Jinne's letter back then, but until now did it really sink into their brains.

"We have finally found our prince."

{[+]}

A/N: Longer chapter than usual. Lots of things happened, my laptop broke down, had to send it to get repaired, and so I'm stuck writing on my mom's computer. Great.

I don't know how I could have gone through this chapter in any other way, with the rampant use of OCs. To my knowledge, there has been no known Uzumaki unless you guys want to drop a PM or something like that. Also, the flow of events in this chapter is something I have problems with since I had to retype all of this, but I guess I'll leave you guys to criticize me on that. D: Don't be too mean. (One day I might come back and re-write this chapter according to its original format.) Hopefully, I didn't turn that much of you off.

Thanks to the anonymous, two reviews from Chandagnac [ ], Ramen Knight, RedEye00, BombRaider, Balatros, and Twilifay. I really appreciate the support.

R&R?


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